Soul Searching
by AgiVega
Summary: When Superman fell from the skies in his Kryptonite weakened state, he hit his head. Badly. The consequences are dire, although somewhat amusing.
1. Who Am I?

**A/N: okay, guys. Before you start reading the fic, I need to tell you something IMPORTANT, be so kind and read my author's note. **

**I never, ever start to publish a novel-length fic before it's finished (it's my Rule Number One in writing fanfiction), but this time something happened that forced me to break my own rule: an excellent author has just published a fic that handles a topic very similar to mine. **

**I started writing this fic in the second half of August, and I'm currently writing chapter 11. (Should anyone doubt that, check out the latest entry in my ffnet forums/'works in progress' thread – you'll see that this fic was announced there as a WIP on 27th August). **

**I wanted to wait with the publish date for another two-three weeks (as I expect I'm going to finish writing the fic in about three weeks), but, in order to avoid being yelled at that 'hey, you stole someone else's idea!', I decided to start to publish it now. I hope you understand my predicament and that Nautica7mk won't be mad at me for posting a fic like this at the same time she does – I seriously hope our fics will be different enough. I do not intend to be anyone's competition, I just want to avoid being called a plot-thief. I'm sure that all fanfic authors can relate :)**

**Please keep in mind that my fic is about 70 percent written at the moment, so I'm NOT taking ideas from any other author in the fandom. Stealing plot elements is simply beneath my dignity. Should you find more than one element in my story that resembles Nautica's, then it's merely a coincidence. Those who know me from other fandoms know that I'd never sink so low as to steal from other people's fics.**

I must also tell you that English isn't my native language. Although I have an American beta, she might not notice all the mistakes I make, so don't be harsh when pointing them out.

**This story starts as an AU ending to the SR movie. I based it mostly on SII and SR, and barely on anything else. From the Smallville series I only used the fact that Lana and Chloe exist, but Chloe isn't related to Lois and Lana never slept with Clark. Neither Lex nor Lois ever visited Smallville and Ben Hubbard doesn't exist at all.**

Thanks to Eve for the grammar beta and my mum for the plot beta.

o O o

**_SOUL-SEARCHING_ **

**Chapter 1 **

**Who Am I?**

Lois looked at the unmoving form of Superman lying in the hospital bed. He looked so peaceful, as though he was only sleeping… but Lois knew better. She knew he was in a coma from which he might never awaken. At the thought of never seeing those amazingly blue eyes, never hearing his rich baritone and never seeing his smile again, her heart clenched. How she loved this man! For years and years she'd tried to convince herself that she was over him, and convince the world that Superman meant nothing to her, but she had known all along that she'd been trying to deceive everyone, herself included.

She cast a quick glance at her son who was deeply immersed in admiring the Man of Steel's blue-red-yellow suit on the chair. _He deserves to know_, she thought, turning back to Superman. _He deserves to know that Jason is his…_

She bent to his right ear and whispered, as quietly as possible, "Jason is your son." Even if he had heard her, he gave no sign but slept on. With a sudden thought she gently kissed him on the lips, then drew back.

Nothing.

_So much for reviving kisses_, Lois thought dejectedly and stood up. That was when he first stirred.

"He's moved!" Jason exclaimed, running up to the invalid. For a second it crossed Lois's mind that her son might have seen her kissing Superman, but the flash of a pair of sky blue eyes made her forget it. She felt her knees going weak and she had to sit down before her legs decided to force her down.

She unceremoniously dropped herself on the bed next to him, clutching his hands. "You're back…" she whispered, not even trying to fight her tears.

"Back? Where?" Superman asked quietly, his voice sounding distant. He freed his hands from her grip and quickly cast his eyes around. "In a hospital room? Why, what happened to me?"

"You fell from the skies after you pushed that huge mass of land into space," Lois replied gently, running a caressing finger down the side of his face. He caught her hand and gently placed it back into her lap. His cheeks were flushed, as though he were feeling embarrassed at the intimacy she had been showing.

Lois knitted her eyebrows. Just a few days ago Superman had seemed more than willing to kiss her and felt very eager to hold her in his arms. Why was he pushing her away now? Hadn't he heard what she'd told him about Jason?

"I… I'm sorry Miss…" he muttered. "I did not mean to be rude or anything, but… do I know you?"

Lois's eyes widened. He couldn't have… amnesia, could he? _Please, no…_ "Of… of course you do," she said quickly. "I'm Lois Lane, remember? Reporter of the Daily Planet, your um… personal press contact."

"I have a press contact?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Of course you do!" Jason chimed in. "You're famous, Mr. Superman!"

That was the first time Superman noticed the child. "Oh, hi there. Who are you? And what did you just call me?"

The little boy glanced at his mother, as though waiting for her approval to continue. Lois looked back at her son with equally confused expression, so Jason decided to take things into his hands. Superman was behaving rather weird, surely because he was still very sick; that left him, Jason, the only responsible male in the room. He cleared his throat, straightened his back and held out his right hand just like his Daddy Richard had taught him. On most occasions he had just introduced himself to people with a 'hi, I'm Jason', offering a smile, but this was a serious situation that called for maturity. And he was a real man already, his Daddy had told him several times… And real men introduced themselves with a straight back, an impassive expression and a strong handshake. "We've met before, but you seem to have forgotten, so I'm introducing myself again. Jason White, pleased to meet you, Mr. Superman."

The man in the bed looked dumbfounded as the child shook his hand. "What did you call me again?"

"Superman. That's your name," Jason replied seriously. "Hasn't your daddy taught you to return a handshake properly? I mean, your grip was like a dead fish or something…"

"Jason!" his mother said with a scolding stare.

The little boy shrugged. "But that's what Daddy taught me. A real gentleman grabs the hand of the other properly to show that he has a strong personality. Or something like that. Perhaps Superman's daddy never taught him that."

Superman wasn't looking at the child, but staring at the wall, his mind reeling. Daddy? _His_ daddy? Who was his daddy? Did he have a daddy at all? And what was with these two people insisting on calling him Superman? "I…" He turned back to the charming woman and her precocious son. "In all honesty, I don't know what my father taught me and what he didn't. I don't know if I had a father at all… and I don't know who I am."

"You're Superman, how many times do I have to rep-" Jason began, only to be silenced by his mother.

"Jason honey… would you do Mommy a favour and wait outside?"

The little boy made a pout but nodded and left the room.

Lois made sure her son had properly closed the door behind him then returned to the bed and sat down. "You don't remember a thing?"

The man shook his head. "What am I supposed to remember?"

Lois heaved a sigh. This wasn't going to be easy. In the fairy tale when Sleeping Beauty got awoken by the Prince's kiss, she fully remembered everything that had happened to her before she'd fallen asleep a hundred years ago. Superman, however, seemed to have total amnesia, and he hadn't even slept a hundred years, just a few days. Had the Kryptonite affected him so badly? Or had he hit his head when he'd crashed with the ground? The doctors had mentioned some minor concussion that must have been due to his weakened-by-Kryptonite state, as under normal circumstances the Man of Steel would never have been hurt in any way…

Lois wordlessly took his hand and motioned him to get out of the bed. As he did and his covers fell back, she bit back a gasp. His body was so… perfect. Even through the short-sleeved shirt he was wearing, his muscles looked so toned, his shoulders so wide, and his backside in that tiny piece of underwear… _Oh my gosh_. Not even an ancient Greek sculptor could have carved him to greater perfection. She'd almost forgotten how good he looked without clothes…

She halted in her stride. Did she _remember_ him without clothes? Well, certainly, there had been those funny dreams about her and Superman making love in a crystal palace in a silver bed looking like something that had been beamed down from the Enterprise, but hadn't those been only dreams? Certainly, Jason was there, a living proof that something _had_ happened between her and Superman, and during her pregnancy she kept wondering whether those dreams had anything to do with reality, but now that she again saw him without his suit, a feeling of dejá vu washed over her.

"Are you feeling okay?" he asked, eyeing her with a curious glance. His head was cocked, his shoulders hunched a bit, and Lois realised that he reminded her of someone. Someone… insecure. Someone… boyish and mild-mannered. But whom?

"Er… of course," she replied with a forced smile and led him to the chair on which his clothes were lying. She turned to face him, her eyes boring deeply into his. "What my son said was right, but I think he started it a bit… rudely." She let out a chuckle. "You must forgive him for that, he's just five after all."

"Er… Miss Lane… don't worry, I'm not mad at your son. He's a very interesting little boy. I think I like him."

As clueless and lost as he looked, she couldn't help thinking that he was endearing. There was definitely something innocent and boyish about him – something that she'd never seen in him when he'd posed as Superman. Then it crossed her mind: did he _pose_ as Superman? Was he someone else as well – someone who just occasionally appeared to be the strong and unwavering hero? Was he deep down much more vulnerable? Was he showing his real personality now?

"Just call me Lois, please. I know… I know you don't remember, but we used to be… friends. Very… close friends."

"Then you surely know everything about me."

_I wish I did_, she thought bitterly. "I know a lot about you, but not everything by far. You are Superman, saviour of thousands on Earth. You have come from another planet and have these special powers like flying, heat- and X-ray vision, enhanced hearing and invulnerability… or least, as long as there's no Kryptonite around, because that's the only thing that can hurt you. And that _is_ what hurt you. That is what made you fall from the skies and hit yourself so bad that you fell in a coma and now have amnesia. And this…" she pointed at the clothes on the chair, "is your suit."

Superman let got of her hand to examine the suit. He picked it up and held it at arm's length, frowning. "Was I at a costume ball before I had this… accident?"

"A costume ball?" She blinked.

"Yeah, you know… where people dress up in funny clothes… There _is_ such a thing as a costume ball, isn't there?"

"Yes, there is…" Lois nodded. Like most amnesiacs, Superman too remembered the average things in life – like how to speak, how to ride a bicycle, where to go if in need of a loaf of bread, but he didn't remember a thing of his own life and the people he had known. "But… this isn't a costume. I mean, yes, of course it is, but… you never wore it to costume balls. You wore it when you went on your amazing rescue missions."

The man shook his head in disbelief and dropped the clothes back on the chair. "I don't like it. It looks so stuck-up with that huge red 'S'. I can't believe I ever agreed to wear something like this. And 'Superman'? What kind of silly name is that?"

_A name that **I** gave you_, Lois thought, blinking back a tear and turning away from him to not let him see her watering eyes. As she looked out the window, she was greeted by the sight of Metropolis bathing in sunshine. _The sun!_

"Superman!"

The man next to her made a face. "Do you insist on calling me that? It makes me feel… awkward."

Lois fought down the urge to roll her eyes. "Listen here Su… You get your strength from the sun. You usually fly high up into the sky to get filled with sunshine. It revitalises you, recharges you and heals you. All you have to do is fly into the stratosphere where the sun's rays are not filtered by the ozone layer, and you'll be healthy again! You will remember everything!"

The young man was scrutinizing her with a dubious and still very boyish expression. He looked like an elementary school pupil who couldn't decide whether to believe his math teacher that two multiplied by two was four. "Are you sure I can fly?"

Lois smiled. "Yeah, absolutely sure. We've flown together several times. You can fly quicker than a speeding bullet. You stopped falling airplanes with your bare hands, you… you can do it."

He bit into his lower lip. "I can try. But I don't have to wear this, do I?" He pointed at the blue suit on the chair.

"I'm afraid you have to," she chuckled. "I'm sure the ladies would love to see you in underwear, but… others might be scandalised. You'd make the front page in an instant… Not that you aren't making the front page these days…"

"What do you mean by that?" He raised an eyebrow at her, the look of total puzzlement on his face. She was sure she'd seen this particular expression on someone before, but it hadn't been Superman.

"Are there journalists here?"

Lois stepped to the window and opened it. "Look down."

Superman walked to the window and let out a gasp. There were hundreds, no, thousands of people on the streets. They looked like a crowd of fans camping in front of a five star hotel, hoping to catch a glimpse of their favourite movie star. "Uh… they aren't all journalists, are they?" he asked in a wavering voice.

The woman shook her head with an amused smile. "Just about one-tenth of them. The rest are normal people, your well-wishers, your admirers… people who love you and want you to heal. You owe them that much. So don't keep the sun waiting!"

With an expression of insecurity, he nodded and lifted his blue suit off the chair. "I still don't like it."

o O o

Two minutes later, Superman was standing on the windowsill, looking down into the abyss. He didn't know if he'd ever been afraid of heights, but now he felt that he was. Something gently touched his shoulder and he looked back to see Lois Lane's encouraging smile. "You can make it. I know you can. Trust yourself – I trust you."

He couldn't have explained why, but something warm and fuzzy spread inside his belly. This lady was really so nice to him… a friend, if he could believe her. And there was something in her eyes that made him trust her. And she trusted him, so he had to trust himself.

With a deep breath, he jumped.

The g-force immediately sucked him towards the centre of Earth. He heard a squeal from above – probably coming from Lois, and several screams from downwards.

'_Look, it's Superman!'_

'_He's alive!'_

'_But he's falling!'_

'_Heavens, he's jumped out a window and forgot how to fly!'_

'_CLAAAARK!_' shouted a vaguely familiar voice that could have probably belonged to an elderly lady. Superman saw a tree speeding towards him and realised that in fact _he_ was speeding towards the tree, but before he could have collided with it, the g-force simply stopped existing and he was soaring up, up...

In an instant he was at the same level with the window he'd jumped from. "Hey, Lois, I can fly! Look!" He did a loop-de-loop in the air, laughing like a five-year-old. "This is great! I think I love flying! But Lois, why are you so pale?"

Thanks to his super-reflexes, he caught her just in time as she fainted.

o O o

"Mommy, mommy, can I come inside?"

Lois blinked to find herself on the bed that Superman had just recently vacated. What happened? Then it came rushing back to her: his jumping from the window, her heart missing a beat, then his infantile loop-de-loops… _I must have fainted. Damn you, Superman, no man on Earth has ever made me faint besides you, but you know just how to do it as often as possible…_

"Mommmmmyyyy!" came a whining voice from outside.

"Oh… Come in, Jason!" she called out to him, and the little boy entered.

"Where's Superman?"

"Er… I hope recharging himself with sunshine… how long have you been waiting outside?"

Jason frowned at his mother. "Are you forgetting things like Superman too? You sent me out twenty-two minutes ago, I was looking at the watch on the wall of the corridor."

Twenty-two minutes. Lois sighed. Then she had been unconscious for at least fifteen minutes. But what was taking Superman so long? He usually needed a few minutes only to regain his strength… _I hope he didn't go flying for the fun of it before he healed… in his current state, he could go hopelessly lost._

In the next instant a blur of blue and red flew through the window and crashed into the opposite wall. Half of the wall tumbled down, leaving a second entrance next to the real door.

Superman frowned at the huge hole he'd created. "I think I'll have to learn how to slow down…"

"Why, don't you remember how to slow down?" Jason questioned him.

"Hasn't the sun brought back your memories?" Lois asked with a concerned expression.

"No." A familiarly goofy smile spread on his face. "But I love flying!"

o O o

**A/N: okay, that was silly (but deliberately silly). There will be quite a few silly moments in the fic, as an amnesiac Superman must be somewhat funny, in my opinion. Later the story turns somewhat darker and Supes turns more serious, I promise you that.**

**Until then, please, review (and keep in mind what I wrote in my A/N at the beginning of the chapter)!**


	2. Superman Needs a Saviour

**A/N: much thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter one. I'm not sure all of the review responses went through though, given that ffnet kindly held all alerts back for a while. Therefore, I'm thanking everyone here who reviewed chapter one: _katie, Mr. Firenze, Extracurriculariffic, whiteroses12, marielise, Nautica7mk, hollywoodgal205, rajen48, muser321, Sunny2006, Alphie, septempopuli, estetson47, LegendLover, Jedi-Bant, Chixawitch_ and _Speakfire_**

**I'm currently writing chapter 13, but I can't update the fic any quicker, as my beta is really busy and it takes her usually over a week to correct a chapter.**

**Note for this chapter: I don't remember if Superman ever told Lois that his real name was Kal-El. Perhaps he did, but in this fic I assumed that he didn't, so Lois doesn't know.**

**Also, I don't know if it was ever mentioned what kind of job Richard's father used to have, but I decided he was an actor, because it fit the plot. Call it artistic licence or whatever you want ;)**

**Chapter 2**

**Superman Needs a Saviour**

She had been prepared for everything since Superman had been taken to hospital. Everything from a quick healing to a tragically sudden death, everything, that is, but this.

Two days had passed since Superman had awoken from his coma, and his state hadn't improved a bit.

Looking out the window, staring out into the dusk, Lois rubbed her temples, unable to close out the murmur of the crowd gathered before the hospital's entrance. During Superman's coma, most of the crowd had consisted of average people waiting to hear news about his condition, some holding boards with the legend '_We love you, Superman_!', others just silently praying. Now most of the crowd consisted of journalists. The average citizen was happy enough to know that their hero had awoken and having even seen him fly around satisfied them enough to go home and keep rooting for his complete healing from their comfortable armchairs. The journalists, however, were more than excited to get news about their hero's alleged amnesia.

Lois didn't know which stupid nurse had leaked the truth to the rest of the press, as she had wanted to keep it a secret as long as possible. She was aware that a headline saying 'SUPERMAN SUFFERS FROM AMNESIA' would have sold hundreds of thousands of copies of the Daily Planet, but she just couldn't bring herself to write an article on it, and was exasperated when she saw that others from other newspapers had done exactly that!

Perry White had instructed her to spend as much time at Superman's side as possible, her being the only reporter that the doctors allowed into the hero's room. Lois was grateful that Richard wasn't complaining about her spending most of her time with Superman, though she had seen the pain in his eyes whenever she announced she was leaving for the hospital to… _interview_ its most famous patient.

Perry kept calling her on the phone, urging her to submit an article on Superman's mental status (the mere term 'mental' made her blood boil with anger), but the article she had promised her chief never seemed to get finished.

Superman had insisted he felt perfectly all right and wanted to leave the ward, but Lois reasoned with him that he needed help, so, two days after having awoken from his coma, the hero was still a guest of the hospital.

Lois couldn't have told what angered her more – the fact that Superman couldn't leave the hospital because of the journalists (and of the danger of getting lost without his memories) or the fact that every time she visited him, she found him surrounded by various nurses and female doctors pretending to be examining him. "They were practically ravishing you with their eyes," she told him sharply after a very blond, giggling nurse had scurried out of the room. "And judging by your dishevelled hair and half-open shirt, not just their eyes," she added with a disgusted expression.

"Oh come on, Lois, they weren't doing anything improper," Superman replied with a rosy tinge on his cheeks. "That blond lady just… gave me a massage. She said it might trigger certain memories…" He scrutinised her face. "It wouldn't, would it? I should have known." He hung his head. "I want to leave this place."

"Su… er…" Lois began, sitting down next to him on the bed. "Listen here. What the women here are doing to you is nothing compared to what they would if you left here without your memories. You could be used. Deceived. You don't know who your friends or who your enemies are. Your immense powers could be used for bad if someone managed to convince you that they're say, your… wife."

"I have a wife?" He arched an eyebrow at her.

"I hope not," she replied, then realised what she'd said and blushing furiously, she added: "I mean, I don't know of you having a wife. Besides, even if you did have one, you never told me, and then I'd be hurt because it would mean you didn't trust me as your friend." _And because that would mean you regarded our relationship as nothing more than a one-night stand_. Her eyes shifted to his face, and she felt herself drowning in the blue depths of his eyes. They held eye-contact for a few seconds, and the intensity of his gaze made her direct her eyes elsewhere, which happened to be his chest. Again, through his tight-fitting shirt, his muscles looked perfect. She forced herself to look away, fearing that she'd involuntarily start drooling if she continued staring at him.

"How can I be sure that you _are_ my friend?" he asked suddenly. "You said people would want to use my predicament against me. How can I know that you aren't doing just that?"

Lois didn't know why her eyes filled with tears. She defiantly kept looking away from him, examining the freshly rebuilt part of the ward's wall. _I can't tell him what we were to each other… not yet. He would think I'm trying to take advantage of him…_

She felt a warm hand on her shoulder and turned back to face him. "I'm sorry, Lois," he said with a serene expression. "You are the only one they let in here to visit me… apparently the whole world knows we used to be friends… _are_ friends."

Sniffing, she nodded. "Yes, we _are_ friends."

"But how come you don't know my real name if we're friends? Surely I couldn't have lived as Superman all the time…"

She shook her head. "Sometimes… sometimes I get the feeling that once I _knew_ who you were… I just don't remember it."

His eyes widened. "So you too have amnesia!"

She laughed. "Sort of, but only partially. I… I remember almost everything of my life… except certain aspects of our… friendship."

He knitted his eyebrows. "And what aspects of our friendship do you remember? I mean, how did we meet? How did we become friends? Do I have other friends as well?"

"I don't know if you have other friends… As for how we met… I fell out of a helicopter, and you caught me." A small smile appeared on her face. "Whenever I got into trouble, you came along and saved me. And apparently it's up to me now to save you."

"What do you mean? Save me from whom? Am I not invulnerable… save that Kryptonite thingie? That's what you said the other day…"

He was again chewing his lower lip, his shoulders hunched. He looked like an oversized, lost puppy, she couldn't have described him with any other word. She reached out and squeezed his hand. "I have to save you from yourself."

He gave her an expression that suggested he didn't fully understand what she meant. "And… how do you intend to do that?"

"I'll get you out of here."

"But didn't you say you thought it would be best if I stayed here?"

She heaved a sigh. "Yes, because I was hoping the docs would find out how to help you… but I was wrong. You aren't showing any signs of improvement. Day after day I come here only to find that the doctors are _pretending_ to be examining you, but they aren't doing anything that really helps, simply because they _don't know_ how to help. **_I_** could help you, but only outside these walls."

"And where exactly?"

"At various places that you used to know. Something might trigger your memories there."

"What kinds of places?"

She mentioned the first place that came to her mind. "Niagara Falls."

"Why, what happened there?"

She had to admit she wasn't sure why Niagara Falls was the first place she had thought of. She had gone there with Clark Kent… but she also remembered seeing Superman there. There were certain hazy details in the picture. She could easily have mentioned any other place she had seen Superman saving people in, but for some reason Niagara Falls felt special. She couldn't have explained why, though.

"You… saved a little child there, as far as I remember," she replied, not meeting his eyes. There was something awkward about this conversation, and about the place she intended to visit with him, but strangely it felt right. Awkward but right.

"Well…" He shrugged. "Anything for my memories. I would fly to the Arctic if that was what I needed to remember who I really am…"

_You might just need to do that_, she thought. But Niagara Falls first. Perhaps she too would find answers to her questions there…

"All right, let's go then." He stood up, starting to pull the pyjamas off himself.

Lois's cheeks turned ruby red and she quickly looked away. _Heavens, why does he always have to make me blush when he's not wearing a top? _She felt like kicking herself for the stupid schoolgirl crush she still had on him. Then again, every nurse in the hospital seemed to have the same kind of schoolgirl crush on him… so why feel ashamed? It was normal. Absolutely normal. He was the most gorgeous male being she had ever laid eyes upon, so drooling a bit was perfectly natural. "Wait," she said, casting a sideways glance at him to make sure he was decent.

"Wait for what?" he asked, almost fully dressed, pulling on the burgundy boots of his Superman suit.

"We can't leave right now." Seeing the confusion on his face, she stood up and started pacing the room. "We have to think things over. First, you must escape from here. I will tell everyone that you just left, no matter how hard I was trying to hold you back."

"Sounds like a plan. And then we go someplace where I'm likely to remember who I am?"

"Something like that. But… If we're to leave on a trip in search of your memories, we can't go as Superman and Lois."

"Oh." He nodded. "We would attract too much attention if we did."

"Exactly. You will have to wear everyday clothes. Not that I can imagine you in an Armani suit, for example…" She laughed, as though the mere thought of Superman wearing anything else than his blue costume was ridiculous. "Here." She pulled her notebook out of her pocket and jotted down her address. "Find this house. I trust with your special vision you can find it within five minutes. Here's the keys. Try to get into the house without drawing attention to yourself. You can go at super-speed, just try not to ruin any of our walls."

He took the piece of paper and the set of keys from her, chuckling. "Don't worry, I think I've relearned to slow down just in time. Been practicing."

"Practicing?" She blinked. "Where?"

"You know…" He shuffled his feet, looking like a little boy who was going to confess some misdeed to his mother, "I went flying last night. And the night before it. No one saw me, though, I was quick as lightning."

She hadn't read any news about Superman's secret night-time flights, so apparently none of the journalists had noticed. "I'm sure you were," she said in a motherly voice that she usually used when talking to Jason, and gently patted his arm. "It's dark already, I'm sure no one will notice you if you left now."

"But Lois… What would your fiancé say if I just broke into your house?"

"Don't worry, I'll phone him and tell him that you're going there. He can give you some decent clothes… I mean, _average _clothes. Your suit is decent, of course, but…"

"Is not," he replied, sounding like a defiant child. "I don't like it."

"Whatever. Richard will lend you some clothes, and we'll get you something to make you less…" _Handsome_, she wanted to say, but held back. "Less conspicuous."

"Do you think people would still recognise me, even if I wore normal clothes?"

"Surely they would. Your face is too well-known to not recognise it. But if you had a moustache or glasses or… I don't know…"

"Glasses sound good," he said automatically. "Thick-rimmed ones."

"Speaking of thick-rimmed glasses, I think a colleague of mine would be able to help us. You know, Richard's smaller than you, but Clark Kent is around your height. He will surely lend you some clothes if I ask him."

"I don't know this Clark Kent, is he trustworthy?"

"I don't know how trustworthy he is, but he has a good heart… and a crush on me." Lois's eyes twinkled with a hint of mischief. "He'd do anything for me."

"Oh. Listen, Lois, I don't want to use anyone, and don't want you to use this Clark Kent either just to help me…"

Lois again found herself thinking that he reminded her of someone. He wasn't behaving like a self-confident superhero at all. He had moments when he seemed serious, but other moments he got strangely mild-mannered. She shrugged. He must be going through an identity-crisis, and the lack of self-confidence was surely part of it.

She fished her cell phone out of her bag and chose her boss's number from the speed-dial. "Perry?"

"Lois? Where the hell are you?"

"I'm in the hospital, chief, working on the… article."

"I've been waiting for that article for two days, Lois!" Perry White's voice boomed through her cell phone, forcing the woman to keep it at a distance from her ear if she didn't want to go deaf any time soon.

"I'm on it, Perry, but I need to ask Clark about something. Can you give me his phone number?"

"I can't, Lois. Clark's simply disappeared."

"Disappeared?" she gasped.

"Yes, vanished from the face of Earth. Can you imagine that? He left for years, came back for a week, then left again, without a word. He never gave us his address, let alone his phone number. If he _has_ an address at all, which I doubt. Jimmy found his suitcases in a storage room yesterday."

"Great," Lois muttered. "Well, thanks, Perry."

"Lois, I want that article as soon as po-"

The female reporter ended the call, then turned to Superman. "Apparently I won't even have a chance to _use_ Clark Kent to help you. I fear you'll have to put up with Richard's clothes, even if they're a few sizes too small."

"It's okay. I involuntarily overheard your discussion with your boss. Do you have an idea where this Kent had gone?"

She shook her head. "He keeps disappearing all the time. He left for five years without even saying good-bye…" Her voice wavered, not meeting his eyes. _Just like you did…_

A dark expression flashed across Superman's face. Had Lois seen it, she would have sworn he had remembered something. Not a particular event, not a particular person, just a feeling. The feeling of guilt.

"I'm sorry… that he left you," he said insecurely.

Lois shook her head. "It's not Clark's leaving without a word that really hurts."

"Then?"

Before she knew what was happening, he was facing her, his warm, big hands on her shoulders, his sapphire eyes boring into hers.

"It's… it's nothing Su…" she stammered. "Oh for heaven's sake… what shall I call you? I don't know you by any other name."

He pursed his lips, thinking. "Call me Jonathan. I like that name for some reason."

"Jonathan…" she savoured the word. "Okay, Jonathan. It's time for your escape."

He flashed her with a huge smile and ran to the window, opening it. Then, instead of seeing him fly away, Lois was shocked to find him by her side again, feeling his hot breath against her skin… He pecked her on the cheek. "Thank you, Lois. For trying to save me."

She gazed at him for a while, unblinking. She even forgot to breathe.

"You okay?"

She nodded numbly. "Uh-huh… Go."

In a blur of blue and red he was off, and Lois dialled Richard's number. "Honey, I don't want to startle you, but we're going to have a special guest for the night. I hope you don't mind…"

From the intonation of Richard's voice, she had the idea that he did mind (especially because Lois told him she was about to leave for who knows how long with every woman's Dream Boy to help him find his memories), but he was as polite as ever. Lois couldn't feel thankful enough for a man this loving and understanding… and couldn't help feeling ashamed of the emotions that Superman's closeness had awoken in her. She wasn't supposed to have dirty thoughts about him… not, because she had a fiancé, and because he, Superman, was completely vulnerable now. Not physically, but psychically. She couldn't just tell him that they had been lovers and that Jason was his son… it could only worsen his mental condition.

She chided herself for even thinking of him as a lover, and decided it was time to distract her thoughts from his chiselled chest, dreamy eyes, cute backside… _Lois Lane, get a grip! _

She dishevelled her hair to look as though she'd been putting up a fight, then threw the door open. "Heeelp! Superman's escaped!"

o O o

Half an hour later Lois entered her home to see a nervous-looking Richard sitting on the sofa in the living room.

"He hasn't arrived," he said dryly.

"What?" Lois gasped. "Oh no… he got lost… how are we going to find him in a huge city like Metropolis?" She sank onto the sofa next to her fiancé. "Where's Jason?"

"Up in his room, doing his homework," replied the man. A minute of silence ensued. Finally Lois felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to face Richard.

"You didn't mean it when you said you never loved him… did you?" he asked simply.

She shook her head. "I'm sorry. I was so… mad at him that I couldn't see straight… So mad that I didn't want to admit it to anyone, not even myself that I had once loved him. But it's over, Richard. It belongs to the past."

"Are you sure?"

Lois let out a nervous laugh. "Of course. What makes you think I'm _not_ sure?"

He made a grimace. "You jumped into the sea to save him."

"Anyone would have done it for him after he'd saved them!" she said a bit more harshly than she had intended. "I was just… grateful to him."

Richard gave her a sad smile. "If you say so… You know, you could call out to him. He has that enhanced hearing or whatever… if he heard you, he might find his way here, following your voice."

"I'm not sure he'd listen to the usual 'Superman!' call," Lois said, shaking her head. "He insists that he dislikes being called Superman and wants me to call him Jonathan. But I doubt if he'd appear here if I started shouting 'Jonathan!'"

Richard stroked his jaw. "But why Jonathan?"

"I have no idea. He said he liked the name for some reason. Do you think it could be the name he goes by when he's not playing Superman, and he subconsciously remembered it?"

Before Richard could voice his opinion on the subject, the front door opened and closed in the blink of an eye, and Superman was standing before them, grinning. "Sorry I'm late, Lois, I saw people needing help in a car crash on my way here. I never thought it would be such a wonderful feeling to help people! I enjoyed it! And wow, I'm strong! When you said I could lift airplanes with my bare hands, I thought you were exaggerating a bit, but now I see you weren't!" His glance fell upon Richard. "Er, hello. My name is… Jonathan. You must be Richard White, Lois's fiancé." He held out his hand.

Richard produced a fake smile and accepted the outstretched hand. The smile disappeared from his face as soon Superman grasped his right and gave it a 'friendly' shake.

"Oops. I think I haven't yet fully learned how to control my strength… Sorry, Mr. White," Superman said with an embarrassed face. "At least no bone is broken."

"A…are you sure?" Richard winced, cradling his battered-looking hand.

"Absolutely. X-ray vision." Superman smiled proudly. "Lois told me I had it, and I've been practising it for over a day. I can tell for example that Lois has lilac underwear and that the little guy who said my handshake was like a dead fish is upstairs, scribbling in an exercise book. I just wanted to make sure my handshake wasn't like a dead fish this time… sorry I overdid it. He's a really nice kid, by the way, you must be very proud of him, Mr. White."

"Oh… oh, yeah." Richard nodded with an unreadable expression. Lois's face though was so red that one could have scrambled eggs on it.

"What?" Superman blinked. "Have I done something wrong?"

"No, not in being late, at least… it was really nice of you to help those people," Richard said in a voice that adults used when talking to small children. "But you know… Jonathan, it's not really nice to check out a lady's underwear…"

"Oh. I didn't mean to be impolite… I won't do it again. Lois too has seen me in underwear, though. We're even."

Richard raised an eyebrow at Lois who blushed even more. "Let's just… just find Jonathan some normal clothes, shall we? Richard, you said you kept your father's old things in the attic. I'm sure you could find something there that would disguise Su… Jonathan's face somehow. While you look for something, I'll pack my suitcase." With that she stormed off, seemingly relieved to get as far from Superman as possible.

In her and Richard's bedroom, she dropped herself on the bed, letting out a sigh. She was beginning to think she'd taken on more than she could bear. Perry was badgering her about the Superman exclusive that she hadn't even started to write, and now she was leaving with the hero to find his lost memories, plus she couldn't even tell Perry where she was going. She would be risking her job, not to mention her relationship to Richard if she left on a 'vacation' with Superman, but she was the only one who knew him enough to help him. And he badly needed help. Without his memories he was acting like a five-year-old child who was discovering the world for the first time. Everything seemed new to him, and he seemed to have lost the ability to tell good from bad or polite from indecent. He was practically like a big baby who needed his mommy… _But I'm not his mommy, for heaven's sake! I'm the mother of his child!_

She groaned in frustration. Out of the three most important males in her life, two were behaving like five-year-olds, and only one of the two was really a child. Sometimes she had the feeling that Jason acted more maturely than his father.

His father… 

Pangs of remorse tore at Lois's heart. She still hadn't told Richard about Jason's paternity, and felt she was living a lie. _Okay, Lois, pull yourself together! -_ she shouted at herself, and forced herself to get up and start packing. Superman may have left her when she most needed him, but she won't leave him now when he needs her so much_. Besides, he didn't know about my pregnancy,_ she reasoned with herself. _Had he known, he wouldn't have let me down. He would have stayed and helped, and… things would be different now_. She caught herself on the verge of tears, but sniffed and continued packing. _Things are good as they are. Richard is a wonderful partner and an excellent father. I don't need anything more than I have. I'm completely satisfied with my life! I don't need bloody Superman to ruin it all!_

That was when she realised she was clutching at a high-heeled shoe, ready to throw it. Its mate was lying in the corner where she had chucked it already. _Apparently, Superman's mental illness is infectious. I'm throwing shoes. _

o O o

"Lois, dear, are you all right?" Richard called out to her when he heard a soft thump coming from their bedroom.

"Don't worry, she's just throwing shoes at the wall," Superman said casually.

Richard knitted his eyebrows, but didn't ask why Superman had been looking at his fiancé through the wall, rather he directed his attention back to the crate full of his late father's old gadgets from the good old times when he'd played as an actor in the Metropolis Theatre. "Aha! I think I've found something for you, S… Jonathan."

o O o

Once Lois was finished packing, she went to check on Jason's homework, while Richard helped Superman choose some of his clothes.

"Are you really leaving tomorrow, Mommy? Daddy told me that you would," Jason said with a pout.

"I have to, munchkin. Only Mommy can help Superman so that he heals and can help people in the future."

The little boy looked contemplative for a second. "Why, can't he help people now?"

"Jason, honey, Superman is rather… vulnerable right now."

"But nothing can injure him," the boy reasoned.

"No, physically nothing can… but he's vulnerable in another way," Lois explained.

"He's a bit crazy, isn't he, Mommy?"

"Crazy?" She blinked. "No, of course not."

"But he was so weird when I talked to him in the hospital. He didn't recognise us. He even forgot he was Superman."

Lois put an arm around the boy's thin frame. "He has an illness called amnesia."

"Is it catching?"

Lois laughed. "No, thankfully not. You know I wouldn't let you near anyone with a catching disease… you get ill so easily." She pressed a kiss on his temple. "But you'll get stronger and healthier when you grow older, I promise you that."

"I'm healthier already," Jason said. "I haven't used my inhaler for three days! And I'm strong too, I threw…" He fell silent and hung his head.

"The piano," his mother finished the sentence.

Jason nodded. "How could I push it, Mom? I didn't mean to. I didn't want to hurt that man…" Tears welled up in his eyes.

"I know you didn't, munchkin. You acted on instinct, to save Mommy. One day, you will learn to control your… strength." _At least I hope so. That is partly why I want to help your daddy so much… so that he can help you later. Oh my gosh… aren't I horribly selfish? I want to help him so that he can help my… **our** son and I have completely forgotten about the millions whose lives would be less secure without him…_

"Do you think so?" Jason asked after a while, shaking her out of her reverie. "I'm afraid I won't. I always get a D in gym… You know what, Mommy?"

"What, dear?"

"I don't think even my P.E. teacher would be able to push a piano. No one I know can do things like that… except Superman. Do you think Superman can push a piano?"

Lois gave her son a gentle smile. "Yes, munchkin, I'm sure he can push a piano. Even two at a time."

"Wow. Two pianos at a time… And three? Can he push three?"

The woman let out a laugh. Spending time with her son always brightened her mood, except when he was seriously ill. "Yes, I'm sure he can push even three. And now, let's see that picture you drew at school today…"

"Lois! We're ready!" came Richard's voice from their bedroom.

"Ready? For what?" Jason asked.

"Mommy and Daddy have invited Superman over and by the sound of it, Daddy has just found some clothes that Superman can wear on our trip."

"Superman's here?" the little boy exclaimed excitedly. "May I see him?"

"Of course you may, honey. But just for a short while, then it's dinner and bedtime for you."

"Okay." Jason grinned happily.

o O o

Superman was examining himself in the full-length mirror built into the inside of Lois and Richard's wardrobe. True, Richard's shirt was a little too tight, but if he didn't do any gymnastics, it might not tear. There was nothing he could do with the trousers, though – those were unfortunately too short, showing several inches of his socks.

"I'm sure people won't notice," Richard said good-naturedly. "Besides, there's always some crazy new trend… you could say short trousers are extremely fashionable in… Kuala Lumpur, where you bought this pair. People will be so fascinated that you were in exotic places like Malaysia that they will completely forget about the size of your clothes."

"Thanks, Mr. White." Superman smiled at him.

"Just call me Richard."

"Um, Richard…" Superman gave him an embarrassed smile. "I didn't mean to look at your fiancée's underwear… it was unintentional. Sometimes I hear and see things that I never wanted to hear or see. I think this is something I haven't yet learned… _re_learned to control…"

"No problem, Su… Jonathan. I understand. It must be difficult to have abilities you cannot control."

"Yes, it is, surely for Jason too." Superman nodded absent-mindedly.

"For Jason?" the other man echoed his words. "What do you mean by that?"

"He just said… Oh, sorry. Again, my uncontrolled hearing. I'm sure I could learn how to not listen in on conversations, I just need to practice…"

"Yes, surely you will. But what did Jason say?"

"He said he'd thrown a piano and hurt someone and didn't know how he did it." Superman shrugged, turning back to the mirror to straighten his tie. "Weird, huh? I thought humans couldn't do things like that…"

Richard was staring at the Man of Steel's back, horror-struck. Jason… with super-strength? Jason… born two months prematurely but still looking as well-developed as any child born in the ninth month… And Lois had always loved Superman… Always. Loved. Him.

"Uh, Richard, you all right?" Superman turned around, frowning at him. "You look as white as a sheet."

"Er… yes." The other man nodded, forcing his voice to sound as normal as possible, while his mind was reeling. Jason had been the first to spot the sunken and drowning Superman in the sea… enhanced vision? When he, Richard, had thought he would not be able to pull the plane up in time and they'd crash into the enormous crystals, the plane mysteriously took off at the last second… Had Jason involuntarily flown, bringing the plane with himself? Best not to think of that… not now… he'd think of it later. _Act natural_, he told himself. "Lois!" he shouted. "We're ready!"

Lois entered the room, smiling. Apparently her visit with Jason had improved her mood a bit. "Well, Jonathan…" She sized Superman up from head to toe. Even if her fiancé's clothes were too small for him, he looked good. And familiar. She couldn't have told whom he resembled in the suit and tie, though.

"And the accessories?" she asked. "Haven't you found anything to… you know, disguise him?"

"Only this." Superman held up a pair of thick-rimmed glasses. "According to Richard, the lenses are simple glass. Completely fake, so they won't make anyone with a good vision dizzy, nor will they blur my vision in any way."

"Go on, put them on!" Lois urged him.

Superman complied. "Well, what do I look like?" he asked with a goofy smile.

Both Richard and Lois froze. Time seemed to stand still in the room. It was Richard who finally broke the silence. "You look like… like…"

"…Clark Kent," Lois whispered.

"Hey, Mr. Superman!" Jason came bursting into the room. "Or can I call you Mr. Clark at last?"

All three adults gaped at the child. "Jason, honey…" Lois began, her voice shaking, "you knew that Mr. Clark was Superman?"

The child frowned upon his mother. "Why, didn't you?" Judging by his mommy's glance, she didn't. Judging by his daddy's glance, he didn't either. "Grown-ups can be reeeeeal stupid."

o O o

**A/N: be so kind and leave a review:)**


	3. Double Life Is Double Trouble

**A/N: officially this fic is fully written and has 17 chapters on 158 pages. The reason why I'm not updating quicker is that my beta is busy.**

**Just realised that I forgot to put a disclaimer in my first chapter, so I'm doing it here :)**

**Disclaimer: **Superman belongs to DC comics, Superman Returns belongs to Warner Brothers. Only the plot of this fic belongs to me.

Also, there will be references to Harry Potter and Star Wars in future chapters. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, Star Wars belongs to George Lucas. Ah, and The Little Prince belongs to Antoine de Saint-Exupery. There might be other references as well, but I don't remember all… HP and SW are the most prominent ones.

**Review responses sent out, hope you got them.**

**Also thanks to: _Mr. Firenze, The Spooky Mulder, red lightning, BellaCordelia, i need more coffee, muser321, rajen48, estetson47, DragonFlame27, septempopuli, blightedmetal, whiteroses12, CindyB, Aurnien, Jackia, mistressbabette51, LegendLover, PBear, Natters, Fancyeyes, natalie, Jedi-Bant, MsSupaFan, D. Tania_**

**Chapter 3**

**Double Life Is Double Trouble**

**(Especially If You Don't Remember Either…)**

"Lex, you've got to see this!" Kitty Kowalski exclaimed.

"What?" Luthor grunted from the adjacent room, sprawled in an armchair. A few hours ago they had arrived at one of the smaller country estates of the Vanderworth family, and he felt completely exhausted. Two days earlier a ship full of holidaying teenagers had picked them up from their tiny island. Most of the teens had seemed so inebriated that none of them recognised his face, even though it had been on the news for several days. Or probably they had been so immersed in dancing, alcohol- and drug-consumption that they didn't care to switch on the TV. Or they didn't even have a TV on their boat.

All in all, Lex could call himself lucky to have set foot on American soil near Wilmington, not far from where his late wife had a tiny country house that, naturally, belonged to him now. The furnishing wasn't nearly as lush as that of the Vanderworth estate in Metropolis, and couldn't hold a candle to the interiors of his sunk _Gertrude_, but it was acceptable as a place to hide for a while.

"Superman's on the news!" the woman shouted.

"I'm not interested in that idiot saving people for the thousandth time," the man growled. The last thing he wanted to see was another heroic deed of the Man of Steel.

"This isn't about him saving people, but something much-much more interesting, so come ooooon!"

Luthor heaved a sigh and slouched into the other room – the only room with a television.

"…_after having pushed the huge island known as New Krypton into space, he fell in a coma, that he awoke from with no memories of who he is. Apparently the only visitor allowed into his room, Miss Lois Lane of the Daily Planet, must have told him about his powers, because he has displayed them a few times already, and even used them to escape from the hospital. Doctors are worried about his mental state, as in his complete amnesia he could unintentionally endanger people's lives. However, it seems that even without his memories, he knows how to help people, therefore the doctor's fears might be unfounded. Just a few hours ago he saved six people in a car crash. To the average passer-by, he seemed more or less normal."_

"_Yes, exactly, he looked as normal as ever… or almost as normal,"_ said a female whose face had replaced that of the reporter's on the screen. "_He flew here, lifted one car off the other and forced the damaged doors open. He seemed a little insecure at first, but he still did it wonderfully. We're so glad he's back and we hope he quickly heals from his amnesia! Superman, heal quickly, we love you!"_ The woman waved frantically at the camera.

"Switch it off," Lex grunted.

"Why? The next program's my favourite soap opera," Kitty said with a shocked expression.

"I said switch it off!"

"Okay, okay, no need to be angry," she murmured, punching the 'off' button on the remote control.

"I'm not angry, Kitty," Lex said, taking deep breaths to calm himself. "Actually, I'm over-excited."

"And what for?" the woman asked, absent-mindedly fondling her Pomeranian. Had the boat with the teenagers arrived a few hours later, the doggie wouldn't be sitting in her lap now. She shuddered at the thought. Lex could be so evil sometimes!

"What for, dear Kitty?" Luthor laughed lightly. "Superman has amnesia. He doesn't know who he is!"

"Poor guy… must be horrible."

"Poor guy?" he snapped. "That 'poor guy' thwarted my plans AGAIN! He lost me my freedom for five years, then my helicopter and my men, and… he's going to pay for it. We're going to strike him down this time."

"But Lex, you don't have any Kryptonite left…"

"My dear Kitty… use your brains just once in a lifetime!" he sighed. "Didn't they say on TV that he pushed New Kryptonite into space? I merely need to contact a friend of mine at NASA to get me some of its chunks."

"You _have_ friends at NASA?" She blinked curiously.

"I have friends everywhere." He flashed her with an evil grin. "With some Kryptonite, and the lack of his memories, we can defeat him. Trust me, Kitty."

The woman gave him a vague smile. "I trust you, Lex."

o O o

Time stood still at 312, Riverside Drive. The three adults stared at the child who had claimed to have known that Clark Kent was Superman as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

"J…Jason, honey, how did you find out?" Lois said in a shaky voice.

The little boy shrugged. "I saw Mr. Clark at the Daily Planet and behind him a TV screen showing Superman. They looked alike."

"Glasses…" Richard shook his head in disbelief. "That's got to be the silliest disguise ever, and yet the most brilliant. The simplest things always work best. And just to think that Lois and I were actually _joking_ about you and Superman… I mean you and you, being the same height…"

Clark gave the other man a timid smile. "I fear I don't know what you're talking about…" He pulled the glasses off. "You mean Superman… I, disguised myself with a pair of glasses? No one can be that thick!"

"Apparently you can, Mr. Clark," Jason said with a grin.

Having a feeling that things were going to turn serious, Lois took the little boy by the hand and started pulling him out of the room. "Time for bed, honey."

"And what about dinner? We haven't had dinner yet, Mommy!" the child protested. "Daddy said we had to wait for our special dinner guest!"

Lois heaved a sigh. Of course, dinner. In her surprise she'd forgotten. "What do we have for dinner, Richard?"

Her fiancé shrugged. "I can fish something out of the freezer."

Clark held up a hand. "I really don't want to be a trouble. I'm not even hungry. The patients in the hospital are given an early dinner, I ate just before you came to visit, Lois."

The woman couldn't help but smile at his lost puppy expression. She finally understood what that goofy and adorably childish quality in his character had been – it was Clark Kent all the time. The sheepish, self-conscious Clark Kent who didn't dare believe he possessed unearthly powers.

Lois knew she was supposed to be feeling scandalised, but all she felt was surprise. Perhaps real shock would come later, when the news had sunk in. Things like that usually take some time… For the time being she didn't feel anger at having been deceived, nor shame at having realised that the love of her life was the same man she'd mistreated for years… She just caught herself wondering whether the half-serious, half-goofy personality Superman/Clark was showing right now was his real personality… As Clark, he had always been timid and submissive, as Superman, he had been self-confident and charismatic… The man she'd known in the past two days was a mixture of the two.

"Hospital meals… Oh, come on. There's no way a grown man like you doesn't stay hungry after that… And don't worry… Clark," she said, screwing up her courage to meet his eyes, "you are no trouble. You're more than welcome here… isn't he, Richard?"

Her fiancé's mouth twitched, and she had the impression that it wasn't a laughing-sort-of-twitching, rather a nervous one, but he nodded. "I hope you like chicken nuggets, Clark."

o O o

"Why are you all so quiet?" Jason spoke up during dinner.

"Quiet?" his mother looked up from her plate that was still almost full, although they had started to eat five minutes earlier. "We aren't quiet."

"Quiet means not speaking. Even I know that," Jason said in a serious voice. "And you haven't said a single word. Neither you, nor Daddy, nor Mr. Clark. Is something wrong? You always talk so much when you invite other guests, Mom. You talked a lot last time, when you invited your great-aunt, that ugly old witch."

"That was only because your Mommy knew she had to keep talking in order to shut that ugly old witch up," Richard remarked, only to get a dark glance from Lois.

"Speaking of old ladies," Clark spoke up, "do you think my mother is still alive? Or my father?"

"I'm not sure, Clark," Lois replied. "Your biological parents are dead, they died when your planet was destroyed. But someone must have brought you up… Actually… I _think_ I remember you mentioning your mother once in a while. If she's still alive, then she must live in Smallville, your home town."

Clark's face brightened and on a sudden impulse, he grabbed the woman's hand. "That would be wonderful, Lois! I so hope she's still alive! We've got to go to Smallville! If only I knew where it was… never mind, that's what maps are for, eh?"

"If you think so…" replied the female reporter, getting a bit uncomfortable with him holding her hand. "We might as well start your memory-searching in Smallville. Who knows, your mom's presence might bring a total recall."

Clark smiled at her, a wide, mesmerising smile – the sort of smile he usually wore as Superman, just a little more enchanted. Not enchant_ing_, Lois told herself, enchant_ed_. The Clark in front of her smiled like a child who still believed in magic. Like a child who'd just received the birthday present he'd most longed for. He was downright endearing as the combined qualities of Clark Kent and Superman shone through him. Two men melded into one…

"Ehem-ehem…" Richard cleared his throat, breaking the magic of the moment.

Lois quickly pulled her hand out of Clark's, noticing that Richard had been observing them with a dark glance. As soon as her hand was freed, her fiancé put on a friendlier expression, but Lois knew him well enough to see when he was annoyed. If he got so worked up because a bit of innocent hand-holding, then she shuddered at the thought what Richard's reaction would be if he found out that he wasn't Jason's real father.

"Oh, sorry," Clark apologised. "I didn't mean to be disrespectful. I was just so excited at the prospect of getting back my memories so fast, and getting acquainted with… _re_acquainted with my mother…"

"You weren't disrest… discre… you know what, Mr. Clark," Jason said solemnly. "I too take Mommy's hand once in a while, and Daddy does too."

Richard let out a forced, nervous laugh. "Of course _Daddy_ does too. It's a nice feeling holding Mommy's hands."

Lois glanced at her fiancé, trying to read in his features that were a mess of mixed emotions – insecurity, jealousy, a feeling of awkwardness, and also the fear of loss. She wanted to gather him into her arms, kiss his forehead and whisper soothing things into his ears… and truth be told, she didn't even understand why she was feeling that way. Was she feeling sorry for Richard? But why? There was no reason to feel sorry for him. He was a man loved by his son and fiancé, he had everything he needed… and yet, at that moment, she thought he looked worthy of pity.

"Ehm, listen here, Clark," she began, "if we are to leave for Smallville, which is, as far as I remember, in Kansas, you will need your wallet, you know, to buy a plane ticket."

"But Lois, I can fly. Without a plane."

"I know that, Clark. But as we've already talked this over, you can't go looking for your memories dressed as Superman. You must be plain Clark Kent, and plain Clark Kent doesn't fly on his own."

The man pulled a face. "I think it's going to take some time to get used to being Clark Kent. I haven't even properly got used to the idea of being Superman, and now I have to be another man too… it's a bit too much. I might get schizophrenia."

"Don't worry, Clark, you won't," Lois said, gently patting his hand, then, as if struck by a lightning, pulled her hand back, not meeting Richard's eyes. "So, well, we've got to get your papers, and according to Perry, they're in the suitcases you left in a storage room at the Planet."

"Why, don't I have a place of my own?" Clark frowned.

Lois shrugged. "You came back from space just over a week ago. You haven't yet had time to find an accommodation."

"Oh, I see. How can I thank you for taking me in for tonight?"

"You could take my flying," Jason suggested.

"No flying tonight," his mother replied sharply. "We don't want anyone to see Superman around our house. We can't let people know that Superman and I are together."

"Are you together?" Jason asked challengingly.

Lois groaned. "That's not what I meant. I think I'm getting too tired…" Closing her eyes, she began massaging her temples. "But in a way, yes, Jason. Clark and I are going to be travelling together for a while. As friends."

"Cool." Jason nodded. "Can you take me along?"

"No, honey, your place is in school."

The little boy pouted. "You're no fun."

"You know what, Jason?" Clark spoke up, "when I get my memories back, I'll take you flying. If your Mommy agrees, of course. Does she?" He cast a sideways glance at the woman.

_The boys are conspiring against me_, Lois thought, but seeing the pleading expression on both Jason and Clark's faces, she couldn't help but nod. Her eyes met Richard's, and the man quickly looked away.

"So, back to your papers, Clark," she continued, "we've got to retrieve them tomorrow morning. You'll have to come with me to the Planet, because I think Jimmy would find it suspicious if I wanted to take your things."

"Jimmy? Who's Jimmy?"

o O o

Next morning, Richard volunteered to take Jason to school, so that Lois and Clark could work on the suitcase-case. He didn't seem too happy about his fiancé leaving, but he knew better than to try to hold her back. If Lois Lane set her mind on something, there was no power on Earth that could dissuade her! And she wanted to help Superman. Richard knew well enough that if Superman got his memories back and found out that Jason was his, it would seriously endanger his relationship with Lois. He didn't want to lose her, not even now that he knew that she'd been lying to him about Jason's parentage for years… But as he kissed her good-bye that morning, he caught himself wondering if he had lost her already.

o O o

On their way to the Planet, Lois filled Clark in on the most basic things he needed to know in order to not wake suspicion.

"So, the fifty-something-year-old man who shouts at everyone is Perry White," Clark said, trying to remember all the descriptions she had given him of various people working at the Daily Planet. "Jimmy Olsen is a little guy with a cute face, puppy eyes, and a bow-tie he wears with a jumper." He frowned at Lois. "Do people actually wear bow-ties with jumpers?"

She chuckled. "Only Jimmy does. He's a bit funny when it comes to fashion… then again, so are you."

He made a grimace. "You mean my Superman suit? No wonder, I don't like it either."

"No, I like that suit," she replied. _You always look so dashing in it, Clark… **Clark**? Oh, heavens, I still can't believe you're **Him**! I couldn't even properly sleep last night because of the thought of you being Superman! _"I meant your suits you're wearing when you're not Superman. They're kind of old-fashioned… but still much better than Jimmy's jumper and bow-tie." _If only I could shout at you for having deceived me all along! I'd call you all kinds of things that the Planet would censor! But in your current mental state I just can't!_

"You okay, Lois? You look as red as a beetroot."

She gave him a withering glance and didn't comment.

o O o

The building of The Dailey Planet was as crowded as ever, which fascinated Clark. Lois had to grab him by the arm and drag him towards the elevators. "No time for sightseeing now," she grunted inside the lift, that was thankfully empty, except for the two of them.

He shrugged with an innocent expression. "I just found the place interesting. Sorry if I held you up."

"You were practically gaping, Clark, like you've never been here before."

"I never have. At least, I don't remember ever having seen this place."

She gave him a sympathetic glance. "Sorry. I keep forgetting you don't remember. But others mustn't find out that you don't remember. Act natural."

"Which means?"

"Stumble a bit, drop things, and pretend to be overly shy."

"And that's natural?" He arched an eyebrow at her.

She had to bite into her lower lip not to chuckle. Now that she looked back on things, she had to admit that Clark Kent's behaviour had been anything but natural. And for some reason, she found his horror at having behaved the way he had, thoroughly amusing.

The door dinged open and they stepped out of the elevator.

"Lane! Kent!" came a booming voice across the newsroom.

"That's Perry White, I trust?" Clark whispered to Lois.

"The one and only," she whispered back. "Come on."

"Coming," said Clark, careful to knock over a chair on his way to the chief's office.

"What the hell were you two doing?" Perry yelled at them from behind his desk.

"Morning to you too, Chief," Lois said dryly.

"Yes, good morning, Chief. How are you doing?" asked Clark politely.

"Horrible, Kent, horrible, because one my two best reporters hasn't been able to write a bloody article on Superman for three days, and the other just disappeared without a word and now he has the cheek to come up to me, smile innocently and ask stupid questions about my well-being! Where the hell have you been, Kent?"

"Uh, I'm ashamed to admit, but someone attacked me and knocked me out from behind. I woke up in a hospital and the doctors only released me yesterday…"

Perry looked anything but sympathetic. "All my respect to those who can knock someone your height out. I hope your injury doesn't hinder you in writing. As for you, Lane, why haven't I seen that Superman exclusive yet?"

"Well, you know that he escaped from the hospital…" Lois tried to smile innocently.

"But surely you have managed to gather enough information _before_ he escaped?" Perry said sharply. "You spent almost all your time with him! Surely you could have whipped up something on his amnesia if you wanted to! It's one of the greatest sensations of the century, and you just let it slip through your fingers!"

"Uh, Chief," Clark spoke up, "we could still do that Superman exclusive."

"_We_?" Lois raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yes. We can find him, Chief, Lois and I. You'll get your exclusive, we promise."

Perry regarded them with a contemplative expression, then nodded. "One week. You two get one week. If I don't get that exclusive by eight a.m., next Wednesday, you're both fired! Understood?"

"But… but Chief! I've got a Pulitzer!" Lois stammered, as white as a sheet. "You surely wouldn't…"

"Believe me, Lois, I would. Pulitzer or not, I'm not going to pay reporters who miss a chance to write a bombastic article out of _emotional reasons_!"

o O o

"Emotional reasons?" Clark whispered to Lois once they had left Perry's office. "What did he mean by that?"

"Er… just that Superman and I… are… friends, as I've told you. Good friends." She forced a nervous smile on her face.

"You didn't write that article out of respect for my condition?" he asked quietly.

She nodded, stopping in her stride. "Friends don't write sensationalist articles on each other's illnesses… do they?"

"No. I suppose they don't." He gently squeezed the woman's shoulders. "Thank you, Lois."

"You're welcome," she replied absent-mindedly, thankful that he hadn't chosen to kiss her on the cheek or grab her hand this time. She wasn't one for publicly displayed affection, especially not with someone who wasn't her fiancé. She never minded much if Richard kissed her in public, because Richard's kisses had never made her tremble and melt like snow exposed to sunrays, but she feared that if she had to endure any more of Superman's – _Clark's_ – closeness, she'd inevitably lose her head and make a fool of herself.

"Bow-tie and a jumper…" Clark pointed out a young man at the other end of the room. "I take it that's Jimmy…"

"Yes. While you get your stuff from him, I'm going to book two plane tickets."

o O o

After having knocked a stapler and a fax machine off Jimmy's table, Clark opened his suitcases to have a look at their contents.

"I don't own much, do I?" he told Lois once they were out of Jimmy's ear-shot.

"Apparently not."

"I'm just wondering… if I have only two suits, what did I do with them whenever I turned into S… You-Know-Who?"

Lois gave him an amused look. "That's something I too have been wondering about. And about your cape too. If you wore your blue suit under your normal clothes, how on Earth did you manage to tuck that huge cape into your trousers? There's no way it would fit…"

He shrugged. "That's my secret, I suppose…"

"I hope you'll tell me about it some day."

"I will," he replied with a grimace. "As soon as I remember it."

o O o

After having flown from Metropolis to Kansas City, and having listened to Clark's complaints about the 'human kind of flying being no fun', Lois rented a car. She was driving down the road towards Smallville, while Clark held the map, trying to help her navigate.

"You're holding that map upside down," she remarked after a while. "I hope it doesn't mean we've been driving in the wrong direction for hours."

"Nope," he replied with a goofy smile. "I just found holding it the normal way boring. Do you have an idea how much more fun it is to read words that are upside down? Like that small hill over there… it's 606 feet high, but this way it reads 909. Er, Lois… am I imagining things, or are you really looking daggers at me?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, why would I, Clark? I just realised that the man I l… learned to know as my friend was actually another friend of mine too, and that he's been lying to me for ages, which means, he never regarded me as _his_ friend! Not truly, at least! Real friends don't lie to each other, you know? And to cap it all, I no longer can distinguish between these two _alleged_ friends of mine, as they're one and the same person! One minute they're behaving as immaturely as Clark Kent, the other minute they're being as freakishly charismatic as Superman, and they're expecting me to _not_ look daggers at them!"

Clark stared at her without blinking. He seemed shocked by her outburst.

She sighed and gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry. I shouldn't have shouted. I'm just too… mad. Yesterday evening I was so surprised by your revelation that I even failed to feel angry with you. I think it just had to come out sooner or later…"

"Better out than in, huh? I completely understand, but Lois, keep an eye on the road, will you?"

"Not that you couldn't save us if I happened to run into a truck," she muttered under her breath. She had finally vented her anger (at least partially, as she couldn't yell at Superman for having left her pregnant), and felt a little better. But she knew that they still had a long way to go before she fully accepted the situation. If she ever would, which she wasn't sure.

"Lois…" he began, his voice again deep and strong that usually made pleasant shivers run down her spine, "I'm sorry if I confused you. I don't remember having lied to you, but I think I did the wrong thing in not telling you the truth… If we were truly friends, then you deserved to know. I wish I only remembered my mistakes so that I could make them good… But I don't, and that makes me feel a bit frustrated… and bewildered."

_Just a bit? Good for you!_ She thought, determined to keep her eyes on the road and not even chance a sideways glance at him, because in the past few days she'd learned that whenever he was using this serious, 'supermanish' voice with her, his eyes always radiated such warmth and gentleness that it was simply too much to take. He could change from idiotic Clark to charismatic Superman then to the mixture of the two in a matter of seconds, and she had a feeling that he was doing it completely unintentionally, the random changes in his behaviour being a result of his identity crisis. And for that, she couldn't really feel angry with him.

"Don't worry," she said, surprised at the gentleness of her own voice. "As soon as you remember your past, your confusion will go."

"But there's something that confuses me to no end, and I just can't ignore it until I get my memories back," he replied quietly.

She glanced at him, seeing a sheepish grin on his face. "What, Clark?"

He looked away, as if truly interested in the corn-fields on both sides of the motorway. "Before you knew that Superman was Clark, you told me that Clark had a crush on you…"

"Oh…" She felt a wave of shame wash over her. "I'm sorry about that. It wasn't nice of me to talk about Clark… _you,_ that way."

"But did he… did _I_ truly have a crush on you?" He arched an eyebrow at her.

She directed her eyes back on the motorway. _No, Clark. You didn't have a **crush** on me. You once said you **loved** me._ "Never mind," she said with a small, forced laugh. "I mean, don't feel _obliged_ to have romantic feelings for me or anything…"

He let out a relieved sigh. "Good, because I don't have a crush on you. Don't get me wrong, you're really pretty, but you are engaged, and… well, there was that nice blonde nurse who gave me a massage…" He shot her a mischievous grin. "I think I have a thing for blondes."

Lois had no idea why his words felt like a dagger stabbed into her heart. She swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat and drove past the board saying '_Welcome to Smallville, the Corn Capital of the world!_'

o O o

**A/N: be so kind and leave a review:)**


	4. Girl Talk

**A/N: okay, so, as I mentioned at the beginning of chapter 1, I'm ignoring most parts of the Smallville series (even though I sort of like it). In my story, Clark used to be Lana's boyfriend but they didn't sleep together. As for Lois, she's never been to Smallville, she isn't related to Chloe, and she hadn't slept with anyone before Clark. Cheesy? Probably. _Shrugs_**

**I have some SR-related fanart that linked into my ffnet bio, you can view them there if you're interested :)**

**I've replied to many reviews, but since ffnet was down for a while and didn't send out alerts and various messages, I'm thanking every single people who reviewed after I posted chapter 3 (in case you didn't get the reply to your review): _The Spooky Mulder, whiteroses12, blightedmetal, Sunny2006, Jackia, Mr. Firenze, septempopuli, Alphie, marielise, G.A. Clive, Alyspins, estetson47, Volucris12, atlantiandragoness _and_ unsigned ()_**

**Chapter 4**

**Girl Talk**

As the first buildings loomed into view in the distance, Lois drove to the side of the road and stopped the engine.

"What?" Clark looked up from the map he was holding upside down. "We aren't in the town yet."

"That's why I stopped. Get out and jump into the trunk."

"Huh?"

She heaved a sigh. "I'll have to ask people in the town to tell me where the Kent house is, and if they recognise you sitting right next to me, they will be asking questions as to why you can't show me the route. We don't want to wake suspicion."

"Oh. Clever." He quickly folded the map, got out of the car and flopped into the trunk. "Too small," he complained, as he let the lid fall back in place.

Lois drove into the centre of Smallville and parked the car by a restaurant. "Excuse me, Mister," she called out to the nearest passer-by, "Can you tell me where the house of the Kents is?"

The man shook his head. "I'm new in the town, just moved in two weeks ago. Sorry, Miss."

"Are you looking for the Kents?" a female voice asked.

The reporter saw a pretty, dark-haired young woman with almond-shaped eyes. "Oh, yes. Can you tell me please where they live?"

"It's just Martha Kent now," the other woman replied. "Her husband died long ago, and her son left town to live in Metropolis."

"I know that, he's my friend," Lois said with a smile. "And he writes brilliant articles."

"Oh, Clark's brilliant in everything," the local girl laughed.

Lois couldn't help but nod. Clark was indeed brilliant as Superman, saving thousands of lives, and brilliant as a reporter too, even though she'd failed to recognise him for his talents when he was wearing his three-piece suit and idiotic glasses. "So, you know him well? Are you his friend too?"

The woman giggled. "Sort of. Though, we used to be more than just friends." Seeing Lois's frown, she shrugged with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "He's absolutely dashing. I wasn't the only girl in Smallville who had the hots for him. But to your question, drive down the main road until you reach the other end of the town. There turn left at the crossing and drive for another ten minutes. From there you can't miss the Kent farm. Tell Martha that Lana Lang says hello."

With a forced smile, Lois nodded. "I will. Thank you, Miss Lang."

o O o

Once Lois had reached the edge of the town and was driving down the road towards her destination, a blur of brown swished past the car, opened the door in the blink of an eye and dropped itself into the seat next to her.

"Don't do that again, you nearly gave me a heart-attack!" the woman breathed.

"Sorry. I was running out of Oxygen in the trunk," Clark grinned sheepishly. "Nice girl, this Lana Lang, too bad I don't remember her…"

For a second Lois stared at him with a confused expression, then it dawned on her. "Of course, X-ray vision. You saw her through the lid."

"Yes, I did. Um… do you think that she and I could have… you know…?"

Lois gave him a piercing stare. "I don't think so."

"What makes you think she and I didn't? She said we used to be more than just friends…"

"Just… just because you aren't the type to sleep around."

"Having one single girlfriend doesn't mean sleeping around," he pointed out. "Too bad she had a wedding band…"

"Did she?" Lois stared at him in surprise.

He shrugged. "I think I'm a bit more perceptive than the average. Never mind, she isn't blonde and I like blondes. Ah, see, there's the Kent house!" He pointed at a tiny dot in the far distance.

"You recognised it?" she asked hopefully. "Then you're starting to remember?"

"No. I just read the word 'Kent' on the mailbox."

No matter how hard she strained her eyes, Lois couldn't make out the mailbox for another five minutes, until the car came close enough to the house.

"So that is Home Sweet Home…" the man said quietly, taking in the small house and the barn behind it. "Very rustic, isn't it?"

Lois had to give it to him. "Yes, it is. Just to imagine that Superman grew up on a farm milking cows…"

"We don't have cows," he replied as he got out of the car.

"So you do remember things!"

"No. I just X-rayed the place. No trace of cows. Chickens mostly. And look, a dog!"

A friendly dog came running towards him, barking loudly. Clark crouched down to it and the dog immediately started licking his face. "Lois, he loves me!" Laughing, he pulled his glasses off to wipe dog-drool off it. "I wish I remembered his name…"

"His name is Shelby," came the voice of an old woman from the open window. "Welcome home, Clark."

The young man stared at the woman smiling at him affectionately from the window. "You must be my mother. You look familiar…"

"Oh, Clark…" Tears welled up in the old lady's eyes, and she hurried out of the house.

There were not many times when the Man of Steel was nearly swept off his feet, but the hug he got from his mother made his knees go weak. "I was there, Clark…" she muttered. "Before, at the hospital, waiting for news on you… I thought my heart would break if I lost you too…" She looked up, sniffing. "When I saw you jump from the window, my heart truly missed a beat. I think… I think I even screamed your name in fright…"

The man knitted his eyebrows. "I remember that. People were shouting all kinds of things, but someone from the crowd shouted 'Clark'. I just didn't know then that _I_ was Clark…"

"When… when did you remember? And how much do you remember?" his mother asked, never letting go of him.

"Truth be told, I don't remember a thing." Clark shook his head. "If Lois hadn't came up with the idea of helping me find my memories and disguising me with glasses for the purpose, she wouldn't have realised that I was both Superman and Clark Kent, and then I wouldn't know who I am." He let out a small laugh. "I _still_ don't really know who I am… All I know is what Lois told me. And I'm here for more information from you. I hope you can help."

"What would become of the world if mothers didn't help their sons?" Martha smiled weakly at him. "I wish… I wish I could have helped you in Metropolis already, but I couldn't. They wouldn't let average people into your room, and I knew I couldn't just go there and claim to be your mother… they would have found out my real name, and your identity wouldn't have been a secret any longer." She shook her head, and a few locks of her grey hair whipped around her. "When the news came out that you were physically healthy but had amnesia, I played with the thought of calling out to you, but… I wasn't sure you would come. I feared that as soon as you saw I wasn't in danger, you would fly away, and I wouldn't even have a chance to tell you that… that I'm your mother. So I came back here, hoping that you'd heal, like you always do. My big, strong son…"

Lois examined Clark's expression as the old woman clung to him, and she could tell that he was slightly embarrassed. Not because he was being hugged by a 'complete stranger', but because he didn't remember her, therefore didn't know how to comfort her. She saw the despair in his eyes at his own helplessness. The strongest man on Earth, and he couldn't handle a mother's affection.

Clark's eyes met Lois's, and she sent him an encouraging smile. He returned the smile, and gently began caressing the old woman's silvery hair. "It's okay, Mom. You see I'm fine. I'm sure my memories will return in time."

Martha Kent looked up again, wiped her tears and finally released her son. "Let's go in. We have so much to talk about…" She turned to the younger woman whom she easily recognised as the famous reporter Lois Lane her son had been in love with for years. "Miss Lane, please forgive me my impoliteness at not having greeted you earlier. I was simply so afraid I'd never see my child again… and when I saw him, I forgot about everything else."

"It's okay, Mrs Kent." Lois said, trying to tame her features into a gentle smile instead of the grin it wanted to tuck into after having heard Martha call Superman a 'child'. Then again, for a mother, her son will always be a child, even if he grows almost two metres tall. "I know what it is like to worry about your child. I have a son of my own."

"I saw the little boy." Martha nodded. "He went with you to the hospital. Really beautiful child, Miss Lane."

"Please, call me Lois."

"Only if you call me Martha in return." The old woman took both Clark and Lois by the arm and guided them into the house.

o O o

After Lois had dropped her suitcase in the guest room, she descended the stairs. The first thing her eyes fell upon was Clark – without his glasses – examining a few photographs on the mantelpiece. As always when seeing Superman (or Clark without glasses), Lois felt a flip-flop in her stomach.

The man was deeply immersed in examining the photos, oblivious to the fact that the woman was practically devouring him with her eyes. Finally, he glanced at her and sent her a smile. "Nice pictures. Too bad I don't recognise anyone in them."

"Well, I think… that must be you." Lois pointed at a picture showing a much younger Clark sandwiched between Martha Kent and an older man.

Clark rolled his eyes, laughing. "Yes, I realised that much. And I even recognised Mom here, but that man… could he be my father?"

"It is… was. It's Jonathan Kent, my late husband," said Martha from the kitchen door.

"Jonathan?" Clark whirled around. "So that's why I liked the name Jonathan!"

The elderly woman gave him a confused look.

"See, when Clark didn't yet know he was Clark, he asked me to call him Jonathan instead of Superman," Lois explained. "Must have been the work of his subconscious."

"And the fact that I don't like being called Superman," he added.

His mother continued to look confused. "And why don't you like being called Superman, Clark?"

He shook his head. "I couldn't explain, Mom. I think it just sounds too… macho. I mean, surely I'm not that special… Yeah, I can fly and lift heavy things, but being called _super_ for that? What's next? _Hyperman? Megaman?_ Sheesh. Not to mention that suit…"

"The one I made for you?" Martha asked.

Lois thought Clark seemed to have shrunk several inches in a second. "Er… that suit," he muttered with a sheepish grin. "The one _you_ made for me. Have I mentioned how much I love it?"

_Good boy,_ Lois thought, hiding a smile. _He doesn't remember his mother, nor does he remember ever having loved her, but he's too much of a gentleman to hurt her feelings._

"No, Clark, you never mentioned it." Martha shook her head. "But I'm glad you do. It goes perfectly with your eyes."

The young man again produced a shy smile. "Um, Mom… Lois and I've been trying to solve a riddle, and now that I don't remember anything of my life as Superman, I don't know how… and perhaps you could tell… So, how on earth did that huge red cape fit under my everyday clothes?"

Lois had to bite into her lower lip to hold back a chuckle. He was just so cute when acting like a lost puppy and asking stupid questions… Certainly, sometimes his stupid questions did annoy her, and truth be told, his whole stupid Clark-behaviour had annoyed her for years, but at the moment she couldn't help thinking it was endearing.

Martha, however, didn't hold back her laughter. "Oh, Clark, you always know how to brighten an old woman's days… The cape… I made it of a very light material that, if folded, doesn't take up much place and doesn't form much of a bulge. If you had your suit jacket over your trousers, no one could tell there was a huge red cape tucked in there. Naturally, knowing you, I chose a material that doesn't wrinkle, no matter how carelessly you tuck it into your trousers."

"What do you mean, _knowing me_?" Clark raised an eyebrow at his mother.

Martha gently patted his arm. "You were very untidy as a child, Clark. You wore half your shirt tucked into your trousers, the other half hanging out. God knows, I spent hours ironing your wrinkled things!"

Lois could no longer fight back her giggles. "Superman the Slob! I can't imagine it, knowing boringly tidy Clark Kent!"

"So, you think I'm boring?" He folded his arms.

Lois was still fighting with her facial muscles. "Not when you're holding maps upside down or running into ward-walls at full speed…"

"Are you sure it's my son you're talking about?" interjected Martha.

"Yeah… amnesia has changed him a lot," the younger woman replied, straightening her features.

"For the worse?" asked Clark with a worried expression.

Lois shrugged. "I don't know. But I hope to get to know you better."

The man nodded eagerly. "I hope to get to know myself better too. And you too, Lois. After all, we are friends…"

Lois's eyes locked with Martha's, and she knew that the old woman was aware of Clark's one-time affection for her.

"…and I hope to get reacquainted with the rest of my friends too," Clark continued. "Oh, really, Mom, what was between me and Lana Lang?"

Martha's eyes widened. "Do you _remember_ her?"

"No, I just saw her while Lois was asking her where the Kent farm was. She didn't see me, though, as I was hiding in the trunk."

"The trunk?" the old woman gasped.

"Long story." Clark waved. "The point is that Lois and Lana talked a bit, and Lana mentioned that we had been more than just friends…"

The old woman looked a little embarrassed. "You were fascinated with that girl, Clark. For a while, she was your girlfriend, but in the end, it didn't work out."

"I assumed that much." Clark made a grimace. "She had a wedding ring on her left hand. By the way, she also mentioned that she wasn't the only girl in town who… how did she put it… _had the hots for me_?"

His mother shook her head. "No, she wasn't. There was Chloe Sullivan too. She truly loved you, but you only had eyes for Lana, never even noticed the poor girl."

_Like I only had eyes for Superman, and never noticed Clark_, Lois thought bitterly. _I was in love with an icon, with a pretty face and a pair of strong arms, and failed to see the warm-hearted man behind the glasses…And now it's too late. I have Richard, and the new Clark likes blondes. That's my luck!_

"Um, what hair colour does Chloe have?" enquired Clark.

"Blonde," replied his mother.

"Really?" the man sounded excited. "And do you think she's still… interested in me?"

"I seriously don't know, Clark. She moved out of town years ago."

"That's my luck," he sighed. "Oh well…"

"Come you two, let's have dinner," Martha suggested, ignoring the sour glances on both Clark and Lois's faces.

o O o

Lois again couldn't fall asleep. Just like the previous night, Superman was sleeping only a few yards from her, in the adjacent room, and she simply couldn't bear the thought of being so close to him and yet so far. She chastised herself for still desiring him after all these years, and for no longer feeling angry with him. She _should_ be angry, he had left her in trouble, after all! And yet, whenever she saw that innocent, boyish Kent-smile on his face, she couldn't find it in her heart to be mad.

She ran the conversations of the evening across her mind over and over again. From Martha she had learned so much about Clark – about his favourite meal (spaghetti Bolognese with lots of ketchup and cheese), his favourite type of beer (Guinness), his favourite colour (sky blue), his habit of sleeping on his side, curled into a foetal position, and his liking for anything composed by Wagner. Clark himself claimed he didn't remember any of these, but two minutes after Martha had put a huge bowl of his favourite spaghetti before him, he was finished with it, a contented smile (and a few smeared drops of ketchup) on his face.

By the time they'd finished dinner, it was dark outside. Martha had advised her son and their guest to go to bed early and rise early to be able to have a look at Clark's spaceship as soon as the sun had risen.

Now, as she lay in bed, listening to the soft, rhythmic breathing coming from the adjacent room, Lois realised she was thirsty. _Must be the spaghetti, it was quite salty_, she thought, and with a sigh, she got out of bed and headed downstairs for a glass of water. As she passed before Clark's room, she heard his breathing even stronger. _Superman snores?_

She was surprised to find Martha still up, sitting by the kitchen table. Hearing the wooden staircase creak, the old woman looked up from the book she was reading. "I see you can't sleep either," she said simply. "Come dear, sit down."

"No, I really can't sleep." Lois filled a glass with water and took a place at the table, facing Martha. "Clark at least is fast asleep. I envy him for that."

"Envy, dear?" Martha laughed lightly. "I hardly think he's enviable. It isn't often that Superman gets to sleep through a night. Somebody always needs his help. And now, he needs ours."

"I know that, Martha." The younger woman nodded. "And believe me, I'm trying. And I saw you were trying hard too, but it didn't seem to me as though your tales about his childhood had triggered any memory at all."

"Be patient, dear. I'm sure he'll remember in time."

"In time?" Lois sighed. "I doubt that. My chief, Perry White gave us both an ultimatum. We need to deliver him a Superman exclusive by next Wednesday or we'll be both fired. Clark said we could do it, but… I don't know. He tries to be both Clark and Superman, while he doesn't remember either role. He's working hard to play both roles, and I find it downright endearing, but what if never regains his memories? Will he stay like… he is now?"

"Why, what is he like now?" the old woman asked calmly.

Lois shook her head. "I… I don't know. Just strange. Half Clark, half Superman. Sometimes a mixture of the two, sometimes neither."

"I didn't see much of a change in my boy," Martha replied. "He seems a bit confused, which is understandable, but other than that, he's the same kind, fun-loving but shy person he has always been."

Lois stared at the glass in her hand, not meeting the old woman's eyes. "I wish… I wish I knew him before. I mean, _really_ knew him. Not just the red-caped pretty boy saving millions or the klutzy reporter, but the man behind both masks. I'm sure there's more to him than I had ever expected…"

"Of course there is. Clark is a mystery." Martha winked at her young companion. "Even for me, and I'm his mother. We mothers think we know our children perfectly, and they prove again and again just how wrong we were…"

"Yes… I know the feeling." Lois smiled. "My son too had a bit of a surprise for me last week…" She took a sip of the water. "Martha, I…"

"Yes, dear?"

Chewing her lower lip, Lois looked up to meet the old lady's eyes. "Clark doesn't hear us talking here, does he?"

"When he's sleeping, the only thing he hears is a cry for help, apart from that you could fire cannons next to him, he still wouldn't wake. But I'll go, check on him if that sets your mind at ease."

The old woman mounted the stairs with the agility of a much younger person, only to return in a minute with a reassuring smile on her face. "He's sleeping like a baby." She sat back down at the table, giving the young woman a curious glance. "I trust you wanted to tell me something, Lois?"

"I did." Lois took a deep breath. "About my son, Jason. Martha… he's Clark's."

Mrs. Kent's eyes widened and she pressed a hand on her lips in shock. "Heavens…"

"Yes, that's exactly what I thought last week, when I saw the proof that Jason was indeed his son," Lois said with a grimace. "You must think I'm a slut or something, but…"

"No, dear. It is not my place to judge you or anyone. Not even Clark, who apparently made a mistake." Martha gently squeezed the younger woman's hand. "Tell me about it… if you want to."

Lois's eyes were fixed on a blotch on the tablecloth. "Martha, you need to know that I haven't… haven't talked about this to anyone before. Not my mother, not even my sister… no one, ever. But you are _his_ mother… if you don't understand me, then nobody will."

Martha gave her an encouraging smile. "Speak away, dear. I promise to be a good listener."

Lois looked past the old woman's shoulder, out the window. The moon was shining brightly, bathing the cornfields in an eerie, bluish light. "I don't remember everything of how it happened. There are certain… holes in my memories. I haven't had a chance to ask Clark yet, and I don't even think it's a good idea in his current condition… but as soon as he remembers things, I will ask him whether he really took my memories of certain things…"

"What makes you think that he took any of your memories?" Martha knitted her eyebrows.

"I remember… seeing him – Superman - by Niagara Falls. I was there on an assignment with him – Clark. I don't remember whether I had realised there that Clark was Superman, but I suppose I must have, given the fact that I slept with him not much later. At least… I _think_ it wasn'tmuch after Niagara Falls. A few hours, perhaps a day later… I don't know. All I know is that one day at the Daily Planet I learned that during the past two days Earth had been conquered by a trio of Kryptonian criminals and that Superman had taken care of them. People even claimed I had been there, serving as bait for Superman… and I had absolutely no recollection of those events! That's why I think he must have somehow… manipulated my mind, robbing me of those memories."

Lois took another gulp of the water, her eyes still fixed on the moonlit fields. "You have no idea how bewildered I was when I realised I was pregnant. I had had dreams in which I remembered having slept with Superman, but… at first I thought those were just the work of my too vivid imagination…" She let out a small, nervous laugh. "When I realised I was with child, I knew I hadn't been with anyone besides him, _if_ it had been real at all." She looked at Martha with an embarrassed grimace. "I… had always been a headstrong, choosy girl. Already in high school. No one was good enough for me, I ignored all the boys, I thought they were so immature and so… two-dimensional. At the Planet, there had been men trying to awake my interest, but all had been boring compared to… to your son. I mean, his Superman-self. I'm so embarrassed to admit it, but Clark Kent never… never for a moment interested me. It was the hero in the blue suit who made my heart throb."

Martha nodded with a knowing smile, though Lois thought she'd seen the shadow of pain in the old woman's eyes. It must have hurt Martha to see that her son was adored as Superman and ignored as Clark.

Lois took a deep breath and carried on. "You will surely laugh at me, but… Superman… _Clark_, was my first."

"Why would I laugh at you?" Martha asked gently.

"Surely, I was the only virgin at twenty-seven…"

The old woman smiled. "Here in the countryside old virtues still live. I don't think it old-fashioned to save yourself for your true love."

Lois shook her head. "It wasn't even because I was old-fashioned… I was just choosy. I wanted the best. And I _got_ the best… only to lose him." She blinked back a tear and straightened her back. "Since… since I had been a virgin before him, when I learned I was expecting, I could easily find out whether it had been him or…" she rolled her eyes at the thought, "immaculate conception." Her cheeks turned rosy in the dim light of the lamp hanging above the table. "I checked myself… with my fingers. And it wasn't there. No barrier. Nothing whatsoever. So, my dreams had been proven right. I had slept with Superman… and he'd left. Without a word." She sniffed, still fighting back her tears. She had to remain strong. "That was when I met Richard. He was attractive, entertaining, and a real gentleman. I… I couldn't let the world find out who the real father of my child was. I had to find a father for him before anyone could suspect… So I practically flung myself into Richard's arms. Both to forget _him_, and to keep my baby safe. I don't know if I did the right thing, but at that moment I saw no other solution…"

"I don't think any other woman in your place would have acted differently," said Martha. "Don't blame yourself, child. You only wanted the best for your son. Does your fiancé know…?"

Lois shook her head. "I never managed to screw up my courage to tell him. He loves Jason so much… I have been hoping and hoping for years that my secret would never be revealed, but last week… last week Jason displayed super-strength. It's only a matter of time and Richard will know. And probably others as well." She shuddered. "Luthor knows."

"Lex Luthor?" Martha gasped.

"Yes. He asked me who Jason's father was. I replied it was Richard, but not much later Jason threw a piano across the room, and I'm sure Luthor has been informed about it. That man is completely crazy, but… clever enough to put two and two together. I'm so afraid for Jason… I hated leaving him, but if Clark doesn't regain his memories, then he can't help Jason, so I first have to help Clark to keep my baby safe."

"Don't give up hope, dear. Clark will fully heal, and he will protect your son. His son…" A gentle, motherly smile spread on Martha's face as she savoured the words. "_His son_… Who would have thought? My shy, abstinent Clark…"

"As far as I remember from my dreams, he didn't seem that shy that night," Lois replied with mischievously twinkling eyes.

Martha leaned closer with an equally mischievous expression. "Was he good?"

"No. He was _amazing_. Being with him was undoubtedly the most erotic experience of my life… Richard, being as tender lover as he is, never managed to make me feel so… giddy with ecstasy... And to think that Clark didn't even his powers when…" Lois stiffened in her seat. "Oh. My. Gosh." She muttered. "_He didn't have his powers_!"

"What are you talking about?" Mrs. Kent asked with a confused expression.

"There was a crystal chamber…" Lois whispered. "He stepped into it to give up his powers… His mother… His _Kryptonian_ mother had told him that if he wanted to live with me, he had to be a human like me…" She shook her head in disbelief. The amount of memories that had suddenly attacked her was simply too much to bear. "He gave up his powers _for me_…" Tears welled up in her eyes, and she no longer tried to fight them back. "I understand it now… finally, I understand."

"I fear I don't," Martha replied.

Lois sniffed. "People at the Daily Planet told me about those Kryptonian criminals… and that Superman had defeated them. He must have realised that… that it was a wrong decision to give up his powers… He must have got them back somehow, then, I don't know… he wiped my memories to spare me the suffering?" Lois asked, without expecting an answer from Martha. To this question, only Clark knew the answer, and only if he remembered. Lois gulped, tears still freely running down her cheeks. "I can't believe what he did for me… that he loved me so much…"

"And you love him too… don't you?"

With teary eyes, Lois looked at the elderly woman. "I don't know what I feel, Martha. I loved Superman. But… not Clark. And I love Richard. Not as desperately as I loved Superman, but still… What I currently feel for Clark _and_ Superman, I don't know."

"He still loves you, you know…"

"He doesn't. He likes blondes," Lois pointed out, and despite the seriousness of the conversation, she couldn't hold back a giggle.

"Blondes, of coooourse," Martha joined in the laughing. "Oh, don't even listen to him, Lois. Just give him time to remember you, and give yourself time to decide what you feel for him." She stood up from the chair. "I think it's time for bed, for both of us. We have to get up early, Clark will be up at five, demanding that I show him his spaceship."

"At five?" The younger woman looked shocked.

"That's how life is in the countryside. Early to bed, early to rise-"

"…makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise." Lois nodded. "Good night, Martha. And thanks for the talk."

"You're most welcome, dear. By the way, do you have a photo of Jason you can spare?"

A warm, bright smile spread on Lois's tear-soaked face. "Of course. I always have at least three-four pictures of him with me. Remind me tomorrow… just not in front of Clark."

"Not in front of Clark." Martha nodded knowingly. "Good night, Lois."

o O o

"What's that smirk on your face, Lex? Good news?" Kitty asked casually, although – even if she didn't want to admit it to herself – she had a sinking feeling in her stomach. In the past few weeks she'd learned that her boyfriend was ruthless, and his ruthlessness sometimes scared her. The fact that he had an evil smirk on his face could only mean that he was up to something, and that might not be good for Superman, or the world, or both.

"Good?" Lex looked up at the woman. "_Wonderful_ is a more appropriate word for it."

"Why, what happened?" she asked, flopping down into an armchair, facing him.

"You remember I told you I had a friend at NASA. I've talked to him about the Kryptonite and he assured me that he could get me some. Perhaps not only some… _a lot_. But that's not the only good news. I've learned that Lois Lane left Metropolis this morning. You know I have friends _everywhere_… even at the Metropolis airport. This guy informed me that Miss Lane left the city with her co-worker, Clark Kent and they were headed for Kansas City."

"And?" Kitty raised a pencilled eyebrow at him.

Lex treated her to a cold smile. "Superman might have escaped from the Metropolis General Hospital, but I'm sure Miss Lane knows where he is, and that's why she left. I'd bet anything she's dying to help him get his lost memories back... After all, she _loves_ him. She even bore a child for him…" Luthor's smirk grew wider by the second. "I have every reason to believe that wherever she is, we will find Superman around. All we have to do is monitor her."

"And how can we monitor her?" the woman wondered, absent-mindedly fondling her Pomeranian.

Luthor rolled his eyes. Kitty could be so… _blonde_ sometimes, even though she had dark hair. "Satellites, of course. My friend at NASA placed a recently decommissioned satellite at my disposal. We put it on Miss Lane."

"Aaaand?"

"We found that after she and Kent arrived at Kansas City, they rented a car and drove to a town at the back of beyond. Smallville. They are at Kent's farm right now, and wherever Lane is, Superman must be close… All we have to do is sit back and wait."

"And then?"

Luthor shrugged. "Then all hell will break loose."

o O o

**A/N: next stop: the Niagara.**

**Looking at my stats, I've made a little calculation according to which only three percent of my readers review this story. _Three._ In other fandoms (Artemis Fowl, the Bartimaeus Trilogy), it's ten percent. I wonder, why the huge difference between the reviewing attitude of readers in _those_ fandoms and in _this one_? Can anyone explain it? I'm really curious…**

**Dear readers, please remember that it takes an author days to write a chapter. For you it takes a minute (or less) to submit a review. So listen to your conscience and click on that pretty violet-blue button below :)**


	5. Irony

**A/N: since I'm ignoring most of the Smallville series, in my story Clark never destroyed the spaceship that brought him to Earth as a child.**

**Since ffnet's alerts were down again for a while and I don't know if my review replies went through, so I'm thanking everyone here who reviewed chapter 4 (even if I've already done so in a reply note): _atlantiandragoness, htbthomas, Jedi-Bant, blightedmetal, septempopuli, Sunny2006, Chixawitch, PhoebeADA, Aytheria, estetson47, sari-skywalker, mistressbabette51, CindyB, lilit4, Volucris12, rajen48, Mr. Firenze, Rongo_**

**Beware, fluffy chapter ahead :)**

**Chapter 5**

**Irony**

After her talk with Martha, Lois felt that a huge weight was off her mind. She had finally shared her secret with someone who she knew understood her, and it was simply exhilarating.

Even though she felt shaken by her new-found memories, she managed to drift off to sleep quite quickly, and slept soundly for at least five hours – a record, compared to the previous nights that she'd spent either worrying about Superman's health condition or suffering from pangs of remorse awoken by the unholy desire she still felt for him.

At six, she stumbled downstairs in her nightgown and was greeted by a motherly smile from Martha.

"Tea or coffee, Lois?" the elderly woman offered, pointing at two pots on the kitchen table.

"Coffee, thank you. Good morning."

"To you too, dear." Martha filled a cup for her, and Lois began sipping the hot, dark liquid. "Is Clark up yet?"

"I don't think so. I've been up for an hour and haven't seen him yet."

"Didn't you say he was usually the first to wake up?"

"Sometimes even Superman deserves a bit of a lie-in," Martha said with merrily twinkling eyes. "But maybe you should go and wake him. I'll prepare breakfast while you do."

"Last night you said he sleeps so soundly when there's no emergency that not even a cannon can wake him," Lois remarked.

"Maybe not a cannon, but Lois Lane surely can." The old woman winked at her.

Once finished with her coffee, the young reporter climbed the stairs and knocked on Clark's door. As no response came, she opened the door and entered, only to find his bed empty.

"Clark?" she called, but no one replied.

Lois's heart plummeted at the sight of the open window. He had obviously gone on another night-time stroll (_flight_, she corrected herself). She could only hope he hadn't got lost and would find his way back here…

The sun was just about to rise, therefore the room was still fairly dark. Lois noticed a soft glow coming from above her head. There were hundreds of fluorescent stars stuck to the ceiling, all of them blue-ish white, with the exception of one that was red. _The sun of Krypton_, she told herself. For some reason she found it endearing that the greatest hero on Earth had a bedroom with glow-in-the-dark stars, just like a little boy. Jason had once requested a ceiling like this, but so far she and Richard hadn't had the time to fulfil his wish.

The first rays of the sun appeared on the horizon, shining through the open window and illuminating a bookshelf. _What kind of books does Superman read?_ – Lois wondered, stepping to the shelf. She found adventure novels like Dragonlance, The Count of Monte Cristo and Round the World in Eighty Days, but also more serious fiction like Crime and Punishment, Scarlet and Black or Anyegin. What most surprised her was a shelf full of children's books from the first six parts of Harry Potter to the entire Darren Shan saga.

For a moment she imagined her son and Clark enthusiastically discussing Professor Snape's role in Dumbledore's plans – something that she or Richard wouldn't have willingly taken part in, as neither of them had a liking for fantasy and children's literature. Richard was too rational to like stuff like that; but now that she thought about it, she could easily imagine bumbling, klutzy Clark deeply immersed in a Harry Potter adventure. Superman, on the other hand… well, it was difficult to imagine the hero in red cape sitting on a cloud and reading wizard tales. For some reason she still found the mental image cute. She had no doubt Clark would be a wonderful father if he ever got the chance… But what about Richard then?

The thought of choosing between Clark and Richard made her heart clench. She wished she never had to choose between the two men she loved – if she loved _Clark_ at all – but she knew it was inevitable, and that it was going to be the hardest decision in her life. Being with Richard was a comfortable and safe feeling, like walking across a well-constructed river bridge on a warm summer afternoon. With Superman – Clark – however, she felt like walking on the surface of the river where there was always a chance that she might sink if she lost her faith.

She shook her head, deliberately to not think of things like that – not yet, at least. She'd have a lot of time to think it over once Clark got his memories back.

On the shelf above the books Lois found a sizable collection of classical music CD's, several of which contained Wagner operas like Lohengrin, Tannhäuser, The Valkyre and Parsifal. Apparently when Superman wasn't saving the world, he was reading Harry Potter and listening to Wagner. Now, that would sound interesting in an exclusive article on him…

She was just about to leave the room and tell Martha that Clark was gone when something caught her eyes. A thin, brown something wedged between The Amulet of Samarkand and Artemis Fowl – The Eternity Code. The thin object didn't look a bit like a book, that's why it piqued her interest. She pulled it out from between the two books and let out a gasp. It was a photo of her, taken probably six-seven years earlier.

She felt an invisible hand compress her gullet. This too was a proof that he truly loved her. Loved her enough to even give up his powers…

As she was staring at her own, younger face smiling from the brown frame, tears welled up in her eyes. Last night she'd remembered so much of her lost memories that it felt totally overwhelming. There were still a few blank spots (like what exactly Clark had done to her to make her forget about everything), but most pieces of the jigsaw puzzle had fallen into place.

Drying her eyes with the sleeve of her nightgown, she slipped the photo back between the two books, just as a blur of blue swooped through the window and stopped right before her.

"For heaven's sake, Clark, you've almost managed to give me a heart attack – again!" she snapped at him. "Where have you been?"

"Helping people!" he replied enthusiastically. "There was a nasty fire in a nearby town – not Smallville, another one. Tiny…something… Never mind. The point is that I took care of the fire in a few minutes. I simply blew it away, like you once said I could! It was simply _cool_, in both senses of the word! I SO enjoy having these super-powers, even though I don't like this costume." He pointed at the red 'S' in the field of blue material. "Lucky that we brought it along, though, I couldn't have played fire-fighter in my pyjamas!" He grinned at her as widely and goofily as only Clark Kent could. Suddenly the idiotic grin disappeared from his face and he reached out to touch her face. "Hey, have you been crying?"

"N… no." Lois shook her head. "Just… there was something in my eye, but it's come out."

"Glad to hear." He smiled, running a thumb down her cheek. As the sun's rays shone through the window, bathing his face in sunlight, she felt like drowning in his eyes. So deep, so blue…

He took a step back and the magic was broken. "You should change, we're going to have a look at my spaceship," he said, kicking his burgundy boots off and starting to get out of the blue tights. Apparently speed-changing was one of the things he had not yet managed to relearn. Or probably he hadn't even tried.

"Uh-huh…" Lois nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat at seeing him in a pair of boxers. He looked like a Greek god. Apollo, for example… _Stop drooling, Lane!_ She screamed at herself and presented him with an embarrassed smile. "Well then… I'll just… go. See you at breakfast."

o O o

After breakfast, Lois phoned Richard to ask how he and Jason were doing. Richard reassured her that they were fine and even told her proudly that their boy had received another 'A' in math. Lois wondered why his voice had sounded so funny when he'd uttered 'our boy'. As she followed Martha and Clark behind the barn, she decided that she must have been imagining things. There had been nothing wrong with Richard's voice…

"So, this is the place?" asked Clark, pointing at a small mound of earth.

"Yes." His mother nodded. "This is where you buried the ship you built with crystal technology. It's huge and creepy-looking if you ask me… I leave it to you to decide if you want to unearth it. There is, however, another ship – the one in which you first arrived to us as a child. It's quite small, so you couldn't use it when you left in search for the remains of Krypton."

Clark focused on the mound of earth, scanning it with his X-ray vision. "Uh, creepy-looking indeed. No, I don't want to dig it up. I'm more curious to see the other one."

"Then come." Martha led the two young people into the barn, where, hidden under a canvas, was a much smaller, much less creepy-looking spaceship.

"Hey, that's cute," Clark remarked with a smile, running a hand along the ship's side. He opened the lid to have a look at the console. Lois too peeked into the small spacecraft and established that its interior looked much weirder than that of the Millennium Falcon. Perhaps because this was real, made by a once-existed civilisation, while the Falcon had been a figment of George Lucas's imagination.

"Looks familiar…" Clark remarked, turning to his mother, "but it doesn't trigger any specific memory. Not yet, anyway. Um… do you think it's a good sign if I find things familiar at least?"

"I don't know, Clark. I'm not a doctor," replied the old woman.

"Well, thanks for showing me."

Lois thought he looked slightly disappointed.

They left the barn to be greeted by Shelby who was friendlily wagging his tail. He had a tennis ball in his mouth, looking expectantly at Clark.

"Shall I throw it for you?" He took the ball from the dog and flung it. By the look of it, it might have ended up in Oklahoma. "Oops. Sorry," Clark muttered with an apologetic look, then stiffened. "Hey… I remember doing this before! I just don't know when… I only remember that Shelby looked at me just as accusingly as now."

"Ah, so that's why I had to get him another tennis ball to play fetch," Martha laughed. "I was looking for the old one for days. Luckily this time I bought three, so there're still two left. Next time let _me_ throw it, Clark."

The young man nodded with a sheepish smile, turning to Lois. "Do you think this means I'm finally getting my memories back?"

She shrugged. "No idea, Clark. I fear this might be just a feeling of déjá vu."

"Then what now?" He looked from Lois to his mother, then back to Lois.

"We have six days to hand in that article to Perry," Lois said. "I suggest we use the time to visit as many places we used to know together as possible. And if you still don't remember after that, then we just make up something to satisfy Perry, and you can come back here for more farm-related memories."

"Okay," he answered, looking somewhat insecure. "Our next stop?"

"Niagara Falls, Hotel Lovebird."

"Hotel _what_?" His eyes bulged.

Lois laughed. "Five years ago we spent some time there, pretending to be newlyweds. It was for an article."

"Oh. Can't we choose some other accommodation?"

She shook her head. "No, because that horrible hotel might trigger some memories."

"Bad ones, I trust…" He grimaced.

_Or good ones_, she thought. _That was where I realised who you were. That was where I told you I loved you…_ It was overwhelming to remember these things after all those years. Overwhelming, and a bit painful.

Thousands of questions starting with 'what if' had popped into her mind after the 'almost total recall' she had had the previous night. It was truly a wonder she had managed to fall asleep with so much on her mind… And just to think that a simple conversation with Martha had induced most of her memories to return… it was unbelievable. She still barely believed it. "They weren't that bad, Clark," she reassured him with a small smile. "I'm going to phone them and book a room for us."

"_A _room?" He arched an eyebrow at her. "Are we going to sleep in the same room?"

"Well, yes… we did so last time…" _Correction, we **would have done so** last time, had you not insisted on showing me your ice fortress and we hadn't slept **there** instead of in our hotel room,_ she added in thought. _Then again, it's much more romantic to say that Jason was conceived in a silver bed in your ice fortress than on some distastefully pink sofa in Hotel Lovebird…_ "You got the bed, I got the couch."

"My gosh, was I really that much of a jerk, making _you_ sleep on the couch?"

"Er… don't worry, you weren't a jerk, Clark." She gently patted his arm, then turned away. _Just when you took my memories, in whatever way you did it._

He nodded. "If you say so… So, we're going to pose as a married couple? That's going to be weird."

_Not for me,_ Lois thought, suppressing a sigh. _Last time we posed as newlyweds, our 'wedding night' turned out brilliant… Too bad there's not going to be one this time… _She froze._ I mean… bugger. I'm engaged to Richard! Stop doing this to me, Clark Kent!_ She stole a glance at him to see him bend down and scratch Shelby behind the ears. _He doesn't even know what he's doing to me… He looks so innocent, so unsuspecting… Life is full of irony. He took my memories while he remembered everything that had happened between us. Now I remember almost everything, and he doesn't remember a thing. I hate irony._

o O o

"I heard you talking to someone over the phone," Jason said as the car arrived before his school. "Was it Mommy?"

"Yes, Jason, it was Mommy," Richard replied, getting out of the car and opening the door for the child.

"And?" Jason hopped onto the pavement. "How are she and Superman doing?"

Richard sucked in his breath, looking quickly around to check if anyone had heard them. The coast was clear. With a relieved sigh, he crouched down to be at eye-level with the boy. "She and _Clark_. You know you can't tell anyone that Mommy is with Superman and that Clark is Superman?"

Jason nodded. "Of course I know. I just thought it wouldn't hurt calling him that before you, because you know already."

Richard gave the little boy a smile. "Of course I do. But others don't, and they may not find out, ever. This is our secret. Yours, mine, Mommy's and Clark's. Mommy's doing fine, by the way. She said Clark's mother is a very nice old lady and they have become friends. She sends you her love and wanted me to tell you how proud she is that you got another 'A' in math."

"Oh… okay," Jason said, pulling his school bag on his shoulder. "Next time she phones, tell her I miss her. Mr. Clark too. He's nice, even if a bit stupid right now, without his memories…"

"I will tell her." Richard rose to his feet. "Behave yourself in school today!"

"I always do." Jason grinned and started walking towards the entrance.

"Er… Jason?"

"Yes, Daddy?" The little boy turned around and was startled to see a sad smile on his father's face.

"I just…" The man walked to him and closed him into his arms. "Jason… I want you to know that I love you and will always love you. Whatever happens."

The child looked up at his father with a surprised expression. "Why, what could happen?"

The man shook his head with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Nothing." He kissed the top of the little boy's head, and watched as he entered the building, oblivious to the curious eyes that had followed them all morning.

o O o

Listening to Clark's complaints about having to take a plane from Kansas City to Toronto and having to rent a car to approach Niagara instead of just flying the 'super-way', Lois found herself more and more amused by his behaviour. She knew she should be feeling annoyed, but the more time she spent in Clark's presence knowing who he was for real, the more he grew on her. Not his Superman personality (as he had barely ever displayed it in the past few days), but Clark. Goofy and shy Clark. She realised that she had barely ever noticed the clumsy reporter's endearing qualities before, which made her feel ashamed.

He had always been a friend who helped her in whatever she needed help with. He had been her sidekick, an obedient puppy she could send for hotdogs; but she'd failed to see the wonderful man that was hiding behind his façade of clumsiness. Now as he didn't remember how he was supposed to be behaving as Clark Kent, she got glimpses of a much more interesting person than she had known her co-reporter to be. Despite his occasional petulance and childish enthusiasm for certain things, he was definitely fun to talk to. He had an opinion about everything that didn't relate to his personal life that he didn't remember, and she found his views on things not only interesting, but sometimes downright surprising.

After having got herself acquainted with his bookshelf at the Kent farm, Lois realised that he was a multi-faceted man who liked classical music and literature of all kinds from children's books through pulp fiction to the Russian romantics - but most important of all, he turned out to be a person who liked having fun.

On their four-hour drive from the Toronto airport to the waterfall, Lois caught herself enjoying their conversation on completely random topics from carrot cake recipes to an in-depth analyse of Antoine de Saint-Exupery's The Little Prince. Clark seemed not to remember when exactly he had read that particular book, but as soon as Lois mentioned its title, his lips tucked into a knowing smile and he claimed to remember its contents very well.

o

"…no, I don't think I've ever tried bungee jumping, but it must be cool," he said as Lois started looking for an empty parking place before Hotel Lovebird. They had been talking about various extreme sports for the past half an hour.

"I doubt if Superman would find it more fun than flying," Lois remarked with a smile as she found a parking place in the sea of cars one of which was a huge white limousine decorated with an enormous bouquet of red roses. It looked like there was a wedding in the nearby church. "Well, here we are."

Clark sized up the hotel with a grimace on his face. "Barbie-pink," he muttered with disgust as he got out of the car.

"Be prepared," the woman replied, "it gets much worse on the inside."

With a sour face, Clark heaved their suitcases out of the trunk.

Suddenly music came out of the small, white, and horribly over-decorated church to the right, and the young man's face lit up instantly. "Ah, the Bridal Chorus!"

"From Aida?" Lois questioned.

"Lohengrin. Aida's Verdi, Lohengrin is Wagner," he explained. "But sssshhh! I love this part!"

Lois watched him with an expression that suggested she didn't know what to think. He leaned against the car's door, closed his eyes and for minutes, just enjoyed the music.

Once it was over, he picked up the suitcases as though nothing had happened, and – this time with not a trace of disgust on his face – he carried them into the building.

The reception itself looked like a Valentine's Day's postcard came to life with all kinds of red and violet hearts hanging from the pink lamps over the counter.

The receptionist – a pretty blonde woman - greeted them with a wide smile. "Good afternoon! Welcome to our honeymoon resort."

"Good afternoon, Miss," Clark smiled at her in a way that Lois thought was maddeningly unabashed.

The receptionist beamed at Clark, her huge, blue eyes drinking in the sight of him.

Lois felt like strangling her - and Clark too. He was supposed to be pretending to be _her_ husband, and he was practically flirting with this stupid blonde. Not that she could blame the 'stupid blonde' for flirting back – Clark was definitely worth it. Even with his ugly glasses, he was too sexy for his own good. How come she'd never noticed that before?

"Um… may I have your names?" the receptionist cooed.

"Mr. and Mrs. Smith," Clark replied, never taking his eyes off her.

Lois thought it was time to act before he blew their cover. With all her strength, she trod on his foot. She knew he wouldn't register it as pain, but he'd surely notice…

And he did. "Um… we have reserved a room this morning," he said, his voice sounding nervous for some reason. "Probably you could check it in your computer?"

"What?" the receptionist seemed to have been awaken from a daydream. "Oh, sorry… yes, checking…" She typed 'Smith' into the computer (that happened to be pink for some reason). "Yes, found it! We reserved room 212 for you, with a lovely view of the Niagara itself. Tommy here will take your suitcases up to your room. We wish you a lovely stay!"

Tommy the boy took the suitcases and the 'newlyweds' followed him to the elevators.

"Last time we were here the lifts still looked normal," Lois muttered to her 'husband' as they approached the elevators.

"Er… quite unique, I have to give it you," he replied, examining the completely see-through elevator that looked like a crystal cylinder sitting inside a swan-shaped boat.

"Yeah, the elevators are completely new. The swans fly you to the heavens of pleasure," the boy said, winking at them. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but… are you really here for the second time?"

"Er… yes," Lois replied quickly. "We got divorced then remarried."

"Ah, understandable." Tommy nodded eagerly. "You realised you couldn't live without each other."

Lois and Clark's eyes met, and Lois felt she was slightly blushing. He gave her a bewildered smile. "I don't mind swan-shaped boats. Lohengrin too used to sail in one," he said as they got out of the lift.

Again, Lois felt amazed by the work of the human (or Kryptonian?) mind: the previous evening Clark hadn't even remembered being a Wagner-fan, but as soon as his mother had reminded him of that, he seemed to remember even the tiniest detail in all Wagner operas. If only he started to remember his past as well, not only the plots of operas and books…

"Well, here we are, Mr and Mrs Smith," Tommy said, opening the door of room 212. "Enjoy yourselves."

"Why not 'enjoy each other'?" Clark joked.

Lois turned to him, her eyes wide. "You… you remember?"

He frowned. "What?"

"That line… the boy said the same words when we first… Never mind."

Clark shrugged, giving Tommy a goofy grin and a tip. The boy smiled and left, leaving the two of them alone.

"Well…" he said.

"Well…" she replied.

"You can have the bed." He pointed at the double bed that was covered with a pink comforter embroidered with purple hearts. "Do you mind if I try it for a minute? It looks heavenly soft…"

She shrugged. "If you want to…"

He flopped down on the bed that mysteriously started to shake. "What the…?" He jumped with a horror-struck expression, eyeing the bed as though it were a monster.

Lois laughed. "You can switch it off. There's a button hidden under it somewhere…"

With his X-ray vision, Clark quickly found the button and immobilised the sensuously shaking bed. "You know what? I again felt a sense of déjá vu."

"No wonder." She smirked. "The bed scared you last time as well."

"Some Supermacho I am," he said with a grimace. "Catching falling planes with my hands, and being scared out of my wits by a bed that imitates the moves of…" His voice trailed off and his cheeks turned pink. "Er… Lois… I know this is a rather awkward thing to ask, but… how much do you know of Sup… _my_ sexual life… or lack thereof? Do you know if I have… _ever_…?"

Lois bit into her lower lip. "I…" She looked out the window whose frame was decorated with flower-shaped carvings, painted a very light shade of pink. "I don't know, Clark… you… never talked to me about your sexual life."

"Oh, okay. I suppose it's something I wouldn't share even with a good friend like you… It's too personal…" He wrinkled his nose. "Sorry for asking."

"Never mind." She shook her head, still not meeting his eyes. _If only I didn't have to lie to you… I hate lying… and yet, I've been feeding Richard a lie for five years… And last week I lied to him again. I said I had never loved you._ She cast a sideways glance at him to see that he was no longer paying attention to her but was peering into the bathroom that had a huge, heart-shaped Jacuzzi made of red marble. _If only I could tell you the truth… that I was the woman you were with… and that you yourself had admitted that I was your first… If only I could tell you that the only night you actually **had** a sexual life, you fathered a wonderful little boy…_ She caught herself blinking back a tear. _Too many if only's. _

"Hey, Lois, have you seen the Jacuzzi? It's big enough to swim in! Maybe we could try it later… I mean… separately." He flushed a bit. "You first, then I. Or… if you have a swimsuit and I kept my boxers on, then we could use it together and pretend we're in a swimming pool…"

The woman chuckled. He could be so endearingly innocent… "I'm sorry Clark, but I haven't brought a swimsuit." _Besides, I'd love to see you in that Jacuzzi **without** your boxers…_

"Lois, you've blushed. Badly."

"It's hot in here…" _Heavens, what kind of a slut am I? Richard, think of Richard! He too looks good in boxers… even better in a speedo… but heck, Clark looks best wearing nothing!_

"Then what about a walk outside? I'd like to see the Niagara up close," he suggested.

"Good idea." She smiled, thankful for the chance to take her thoughts off of his perfect body. "Let's go."

o O o

"Higgins?"

"Mr. Luthor? What can I do for you?"

"I've heard about your company's talents in… interior decoration. I have a small cottage in the Rocky Mountains and would like you to furnish it…"

"It is my pleasure to help you, Mr. Luthor. Just tell me what you have in mind, and my team will turn your 'small cottage' into a luxury villa."

"How fast can you work?"

"We could change the interiors of the whole White House in a night's time."

Luthor smiled. "Sounds quick enough. Now, here's what I want…"

o O o

"Breath-taking," Clark remarked, leaning on the metal railing by the waterfall. "Nature never ceases to amaze me."

"Do you actually _remember_ having been amazed by nature before?" Lois arched an eyebrow at him.

"Not from before I got amnesia." He shook his head. "But last night… when I heard the cries for help from that small town, I flew outside, and the stars… oh, Lois, they were magnificent. Those constellations… Pegasus, Cygnus, Lyra, and of course, the Andromeda. I could see the Andromeda galaxy so bright and clear…"

Lois was again surprised. She'd never thought Clark knew anything about astronomy, besides the fact that there used to be a planet named Krypton. Then again, he _had to_ know about it, in order to be able to navigate his spaceship to the remains of his home planet… "I don't think I've ever seen the Andromeda galaxy… I don't even know where to look for it," she admitted. "I don't know any of the constellations either."

"I could teach you a few."

"Would you?" She presented him with a bright smile.

"Gladly." He smiled back.

Before she knew how it had happened, he was holding her right hand in his. He had probably caught her hand as a friendly gesture, but for her, it meant much more. For her, it was almost… intimate. Her whole being tingled with the warmth created by his touch. She wanted to think of Richard, but her fiancé's face simply refused to appear in her mind's eye. "Er… Clark…"

"Yes?"

"I'm hungry."

He released her hand, not even noticing that he'd instinctively taken it. "Hotdog and orange juice?"

Lois gasped. "So you _do_ remember!"

"No. What am I supposed to remember?"

She laughed nervously. "Nothing."

He looked around. "Apparently the nearby hotdog parlour is closed. Bet the owners are on holiday… But I think I can smell hotdogs coming from…" He scanned the area with his enhanced vision. "Yeah, there is a small but working hotdog parlour further down the river. Come."

They started walking in the direction the wonderful smell of hotdogs was coming from. As Lois walked by the railing that - beyond a certain point - was made of wood instead of metal, she felt memories rush back to her. She had once deliberately jumped into the river here just to prove that Clark was Superman. And Superman had done everything in his power to prove that he wasn't.

"What's so funny?" the man asked, seeing her smile.

"I'll tell you after you got me a hotdog. I'll wait for you here." She leaned against the railing, further walking down the path of long forgotten memories. She only got shaken out of her reverie when a pair of particularly burly men stepped to her.

"Hey, aren't you Lois Lane?" one of them, who looked like a human crossed with a bulldog, asked darkly.

"I am." She nodded with knitted eyebrows.

"The reporter who bashed Superman in an article!" the other burly man added in a growling voice.

"I…" Lois didn't know what to do. These two looked too big and too stupid to listen to reasoning. Probably they even hated journalists… And where was Clark when she was being 'molested' by this couple of gorillas?

"Just for your information, wench, Superman once saved my whole family!" snapped the first man. "No one's entitled to bash him in any way!"

"I wasn't…" Lois mumbled, "I didn't really mean to…"

"Didn't mean it, eh?" The second man caught her and shook her violently.

"Let me GO!" Lois screamed.

"As you wish, wench." The man grunted, throwing her against the railing. The railing, made of wood, had rotten over the years, and apparently no one had cared to replace it with a new, safer one. With a loud crack, it gave way, and Lois had a feeling a déjá vu – she was falling into the river, just like five years earlier. The only difference was that this time it wasn't _her_ choice to fall…

o O o

**A/N: I know Clark left Earth in 2001, so he couldn't have read parts 5-6 of Harry Potter, parts 2-5 of the Artemis Fowl series or any part of the Bartimaeus Trilogy, but let's imagine that his mum - knowing his taste - bought him HP 5-6, Artemis 2-5 and all the Bartimaeus books while he was away, knowing he'd love to read them once he got back ;) I can actually imagine a guy like Clark reading children's literature. It fits his character :D**

**And now, review, please!**


	6. Frame By Frame

**A/N: I was so hoping to reach 100 reviews with chapter 5… but you were too lazy to click that little violet button :-/**

**The 'frame by frame' idea comes from Eoin Colfer's excellent book, Artemis Fowl.**

**The dog name 'Ripper' comes from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.**

**As for the location of the Fortress of Solitude – I don't remember it was ever mentioned where it really was, only that it was somewhere in the Arctic. I think in the Smallville series (the beginning of season five), Chloe was taken to an Alaskan hospital after she'd almost frozen to death in the Fortress, so I decided to put it into Alaska.**

**Chapter 6**

**Frame By Frame**

"Imagine, Daddy, I got a 'B' in gym today!" Jason chirped excitedly as Richard steered him towards the car.

"Oh, really? That's wonderful, Son." The man gave him a genuine smile.

"Yeah, isn't it? The first time ever that I didn't get a 'D'! I think I might be getting stronger. Do you think I'm going to become as strong as you?"

Richard shrugged. "I hope so."

"And do you think I could ever be as strong as Superman?"

Richard halted in his stride.

Jason frowned up on him, not understanding why they had stopped.

"Um…" Richard gulped. "I… I don't know, Jason."

The little boy pursed his lips. "That was a stupid question, wasn't it? I could never be as strong as him… no one can. I'm just plain Jason White. No superhero…" He heaved a dramatic sigh that, under different circumstances, Richard would have found funny. This time, however, he felt extremely awkward.

"No, Son. It's not that much of a stupid question." He shook his head, continuing to walk towards the car. "It's normal that a little boy like you dreams about having powers that he doesn't possess."

"But… I think I do have _something_, Daddy…"Jason said seriously as his father opened the car door for him. "On the ship when that evil bald man held Mommy and me captive, I threw a piano."

Richard felt touched that the child had confided in him to tell him about this particular experience that must have been shocking for him. He sent his son a weak smile as he got into the car. "Well, that explains your 'B' in gym… But I hope you don't intend to throw big objects in gym… someone could get hurt."

"Noooo." Jason shook his head, his abnormally long locks flipping around his ears. "I don't want to hurt anyone. I bet neither does Superman. He always does the right thing, doesn't he?"

_Mostly,_ Richard thought sourly. _Though leaving your Mommy pregnant wasn't exactly the right thing to do… But probably he didn't know. A freaking noble hero like him wouldn't leave a damsel in distress if he was aware of her distress, would he?_ Strangely, Richard knew he should be feeling mad at Superman for what he'd done, but assuming that he hadn't known about Lois's pregnancy, Richard couldn't find it in his heart to bear a grudge against the red-caped hero. He also knew he should be feeling mad at Lois for having lied to him about Jason's paternity for five whole years, but having experienced what kind of dangers anyone close to Superman could be exposed to, he understood his fiancée's reasons for keeping Jason's heritage a secret. Yes, he felt bitter about the whole situation, but he couldn't really blame anyone. Apparently sometimes even a superhero could be nothing but be a puppet in Fate's Hand.

"He's cool, isn't he, Dad?" Jason spoke up. "I mean, Superman."

Richard looked at the child through the rearview mirror to see true adoration on his face. With a heavy heart, he nodded. "Yes, Jason, he's cool."

o O o

Balancing two hotdogs and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in his hands, Clark was heading back towards the river. He froze in mid-stride as two gorillas stepped to Lois and began shouting at her.

"I wasn't… I didn't really mean to…" Lois whimpered.

"Didn't mean it, eh?" One of the men shouted, then caught her and shook her violently. Both hotdogs crumpled in Clark's right hand, dripping ketchup onto the ground.

"Let me GO!" Lois screamed at her attacker.

"As you wish, wench."

Clark knew that not even his super-speed could have prevented her from falling. Besides, he wasn't wearing his Superman suit, and without that, he wasn't supposed to be flying.

"LOIS!" he shouted, dropping the ruined hotdogs and running to the broken railing, spilling about half of the orange juice in the process. However, by the time he got there, the river had already whisked her away. "Hold this!" he snapped at Lois's attackers, pushing the glass into the hands of the bigger one. Ignoring their shocked expressions, he dashed down the riverside walkway, trying to catch up with Lois.

As he ran, two feelings mixed in his soul – one was fear of losing the only friend he knew, the other one was a feeling of déjá vu… as though he had been in a situation like this before… and as though _she_ had been in a situation like this before too. So immersed was he in his fear and so overwhelmed by the feeling of reliving a forgotten memory, that he didn't even realise he was running faster and faster by the second, almost too fast for a human being.

He scanned the area for any trees he might toss into the water for Lois to catch, but there were none. The idea felt familiar, though. Had he done something like that last time?

The woman was swept to the middle of the river where several dangerously sharp rocks stood out of it. Her cries for help got muffled by the rumbling of the water, but Clark, with his enhanced hearing, heard every single yelp. Seeing that he couldn't do anything else, he hopped down from the wooden bridge he was running across and jumped into the river.

"Is he mad?" someone on the shore gasped. "He's going to drown! Both of them are going to drown!"

But Clark paid them no attention. He focused his energies on saving the only woman who meant anything to him besides his mother. He just couldn't lose her, not when he was starting to… _to what_? Before he could get to the end of his train of thought, he reached her. "Gotcha!"

"Cl…aaaaark," Lois croaked, spitting out water as he began dragging her onto the shore.

He swam into a tiny bay where the current of the water was barely noticeable.

"Oh Clark…" She flung herself into his embrace, clinging to him as though her life depended on it. And just seconds ago, it _had_ depended on it.

"It's okay, I'm here…" he muttered into her dripping hair, cradling her gently in his arms. "I'm so sorry I didn't reach you quick enough… I should have prevented you from falling…"

"Ne…never mind," she replied through chattering teeth. "You saved me, and that's what matters."

He ran a thumb down her wet cheek, gazing deeply into her eyes. "Lois, I… I had such a funny feeling… an almost-memory, I think."

"What, Clark?" she whispered.

"This has happened before… hasn't it? You falling into the river, I mean."

She chuckled. "Yeah. Only last time you didn't save me because you wanted to prove to me that you _weren't_ Superman."

"I did save you last time."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"It wasn't you, it was a random tree-trunk I managed to catch," she pointed out.

"And how do you think that tree got into the water?" He arched an eyebrow at her.

"Oh…" She made an embarrassed smile. "It was you."

"At least that's what I remember. So, it _did_ happen…" He stared past her at the wildly churning water, his eye glazing over. "Then it wasn't just a figment of my imagination…"

"Yes, Clark, it all happened." Lois reached out and took his face into her hands, which made a pleasant shiver run down his spine. "I'm so happy you got your first memory back."

"Apparently you need to get into dangerous situations in order to make me remember things."

"Then maybe I should jump out of a helicopter for you," she chuckled, then shuddered.

"Hey, you're shivering. Let's get out of here before you get pneumonia."

He took her hand and helped her out of the water. Dripping heavily, they approached the two gorillas who had been watching the whole scene with their mouths agape.

Clark saw Lois cringe as he steered her towards her attackers, but he squeezed her hand gently and reassuringly, conveying the message 'nothing can happen to you as long as I'm near'. She squeezed back just before he released her hand and stepped to the dumbfounded attackers. "Our orange juice, please."

The bigger one, who was still clutching the glass, handed it to him without a word, and Clark, also wordlessly, passed it to Lois, then elegantly swirled around and punched both attackers in the face, sending them reeling back a few feet and landing on their backs on the ground. "I've heard a bit of your conversation, gentlemen," he told the cross-eyed musclemen, "and you know, I doubt if Superman would be happy if he found out you two were mishandling one of his best friends." He put an arm around Lois. "Come on, let's get into dry clothes, shall we?"

As he led her away from the broken railing, he caught her glancing backwards to check if her attackers had managed to stand up yet. They had not.

"Don't worry about them, they got a smaller punch than they deserved. No one can hurt my friends without suffering my wrath."

"Clark, don't… don't talk like that, you're scaring me," she replied with chattering teeth.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you… but you _are_ my friend. My only friend, Lois. I was so afraid I would lose you…"

"You won't lose me, Clark," she said, bending her head on his shoulder, whether for comfort or for a little more warmth in the chilly September afternoon, he couldn't decide. All he knew was that it felt nice to have her in his arms.

"Um, Lois… Just a question, if you don't mind…"

"Yes?" she asked, sipping a bit of her orange juice.

"What kind of Superman-bashing article have you written?"

Lois choked on the orange juice and began coughing.

"Hey, it's okay…" Clark gently patted her back, helping her to breathe.

"I'm sorry… _cough_, sorry, Clark. _Cough._ It was just… _cough, cough_. You left for years without _cough_ a word! I was mad at you, and I… I vented my anger by writing an article… _Cough_. I've regretted it a thousand times…"

He pulled her tighter into his embrace, hurrying towards the hotel. "Don't blame yourself. You surely had your reasons to be mad at me. I too would be mad if a friend of mine left without saying good-bye."

"You don't understand it, Clark," she said, shaking with cold. "I won a Pulitzer for that bloody article, and I SO don't deserve it!"

"I'm not mad at you, if that helps." He smiled at her. "Um, Lois, didn't you once say I had powers to heat things? The hotel's still a ten minutes' walk, and I can't fly you there without my S-costume… I'd like to try to warm you up."

She halted in her stride. "Then do it, Clark."

"I just don't remember how it's done. Have I ever done it to you? And if yes, how was I doing it?"

"Yes, you did it," she replied with a reminiscing smile. "When you showed me your ice palace."

"I _have_ an ice palace?" His eyes widened.

"Yeah, you do… and I think it would be a good idea to visit it together, in case it triggers some memories… We could go there tomorrow… but first, warm me, Clark, I'm freezing! Just… just pull me into your arms, and… I don't know… let your own body heat flow. That's how you always did it… at least, that's how it felt to me."

"I'll try my best."

"Do or do not. There is no try," she laughed.

"Yoda?" He blinked. "Hey, I remember Star Wars! 'May the Force be with you', 'size does not matter', 'I am your father' and 'Leia's my sister'! That's a fun movie! Er… sorry. C'mere." He enveloped her in his arms as tightly as he could, and focused on spreading his own body heat, channelling it into her. Soon colour returned to her cheeks and her lips that had already turned blue were starting to get their original rosy shade back. "Feel better?"

"Much," she murmured, nestling her face into his chest.

Passers-by gaped and pointed at the two dripping figures who, instead of hurrying towards their hotel to dry up, were snuggling in the cold air, their bodies practically melting into each other.

"Ah, young love," a middle-aged woman sighed as she walked past them, and Clark found that he didn't mind much if people actually thought he liked Lois…

o O o

"Hmm… curious. Most curious…" Luthor muttered, his eyes fixed on the computer screen. His friend at NASA had made sure to send the recently decommissioned satellite's recordings directly to Luthor's computer.

"What's curious, Leeeeeex?" Kitty yawned, languidly stretching in an armchair by the fireplace. They were still hiding in the small Vanderworth house near Wilmington, and all Luthor had been doing in the past two days was contacting his friend at NASA, doing business with some interior decorator called Higgins and asking one of his old chums from prison to recruit a small band of musclemen for his use.

"The footage," the man grunted. "Lane fell into the river and Kent saved her."

"Wow, he's a real hero, then. He doesn't look it, though," Kitty voiced her opinion, examining her fingernails. "He looks the klutzy, milksop type of guy, if you ask me…"

"Milksop or not, he performed a rather valiant rescue. Look at this." Lex replayed the two-minute action scene. "See, Kent starts to run here… and he runs abnormally fast. Then he dives into the water, and defies the current of the stream as though it were nothing. And then he punches those two gorillas. He appears to be a weakling, but he's strong. Suspiciously strong…" Lex scratched his jaw, thinking. "Yesterday, while I was making phone calls, it was your task to sit here and watch Lane and Kent's journey to Smallville. Did you notice anything weird about Kent?"

"Mmmm… not much," Kitty replied absent-mindedly. "Except that he spent about ten minutes in the car's trunk…"

"What? Why?"

Kitty shrugged. "How could I know that? Perhaps he was hiding from someone…"

"When was it?" Luthor demanded. "Where exactly were they when he hid in the trunk?"

"Er… I think it was just before they reached Smallville…" Kitty reached down and scooped up her Pomeranian. "But then Ripper jumped down from my lap and began chasing a mouse and I had to run after him." She scratched the dog behind the ears, looking rather agitated. "Mice, Lex! I could barely sleep last night knowing that there were _mice_ in the house!"

"I don't care for mice," Luthor growled. "Besides, the dog's name is L.D."

"L.D. doesn't fit him at all." She waved. "Ripper fits, so I renamed him. He ripped the other doggie apart, after all…"

Lex heaved a sigh. "What happened after the mouse incident? You came back to monitor Lane later, didn't you?"

"Oh, yeah…" the woman replied. "When I caught Ripper and brought him back here, I saw that Kent and Lane were getting out of the car at the Kent farm. So, I guess he must have somehow got back in…"

"I want to see that trunk scene." The man began searching for the relevant part of the recordings. "This must be it…"

He and Kitty watched as Lois pulled off the motorway and Clark got out of the car, only to jump into the trunk. Lois drove into the small town, talked to some passers-by, then drove out of the town. Around halfway between Smallville and the Kent farm, something happened.

"There!" Luthor pointed at the screen.

"That's just a brown blur," Kitty remarked, stifling another yawn. "Probably some extra quick bird of prey…"

"I doubt it. But let's find out what it exactly is, shall we?"

"How can we find out?"

Luthor rolled his eyes. Being saddled with a stupid woman could be really tiring sometimes. "We're going to look at the recordings frame by frame. There are things that the human eye doesn't register, but a camera does. If watched as stills, we can notice something in the video that we wouldn't otherwise…"

"Oh, Lex, you're so clever!" Kitty sighed.

"Good that at least one of us is," he grunted, instructing the computer to show the movement of the mysterious blur frame by frame. "There. What do you see, Kitty?"

The woman's eyes widened. "Kent. The cutesy guy with the glasses. My, is he quick!"

"He's not just quick… he's _super-quick_," Luthor muttered.

"What are you doing now, Lex?" she enquired as he began forwarding to video footage until it showed the Kent farm at dawn.

"If you had listened to today's news, my dear, you would have heard that Superman had been sighted in Tinyhill, a town not far from Smallville around half past five in the morning."

"Aaaaand?"

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Just shut up and watch."

The date on the screen showed 5:00 a.m., 25th September, 2006.

"What now? All I can see is the roof of a pair of dull rural buildings at night-time," she complained.

"I said _watch_," Luthor said sharply, his voice sounding impatient.

Suddenly, something flashed across the screen. It was visible for no longer than a second, but it had been there.

"Now, dear Kitty, let us have a look at this mysterious blur frame by frame again, shall we?"

She nodded, her eyes wide, her mouth hanging open.

Lex's fingers ran across the keyboard, and in the next instant, they were seeing a series of slowed down pictures of Superman swooping out of the house, into the night sky and out of the screen.

"Well, Kitty?" The man turned to his girlfriend. "Do you know what this means?"

"Wow, Lex… Clark Kent is Superman!"

He patted her cheek in a condescending manner. "See, Kitty, you aren't always as stupid as you look."

o O o

Clark looked up from the TV as Lois entered their room. She wore a bathrobe and her hair was still wet.

"Feeling warm enough?" he asked with a small smile.

"Yes, very. That hot shower worked wonders," she replied, and for some reason she wasn't looking at him. Perhaps because he was clad in a pair of boxers only? – He wondered. He had had to take his soaked clothes off, after all…

He was kneeling on the soft carpet in order to not soak the couch or the bed with his still wet boxers. "Okay, then, my turn," he said, rising to his feet.

"Right," she said, her eyes shifting to him, only to look away immediately.

Shrugging, Clark entered the bathroom, and only before the full-length mirror hanging next to the Jacuzzi did he notice that his white boxers had become pretty much see-through in the water. Blushing furiously, he ran himself a bath.

While soaking in the Jacuzzi and letting its bubbles massage his back, he thought of the events of the past half an hour. Everything had happened too fast, and his mind was in a turmoil. He felt exhilarated by remembering something from before he'd become amnesiac, be it as small a part of his past as a few minutes long rescue of Lois, but the rest of his memories still refused to resurface. He felt as though his mind were some kind of a solar system with a huge black hole in the middle. He missed his memories. He wished he could remember his mother from the 'good old times', and remember how he and Lois had become friends. He believed her story that she'd fallen out of a helicopter and that he'd saved her, but he longed to be able to recall it…

Somehow, he couldn't have explained why, he had a feeling that there was more to Lois than she was letting on. Sometimes she was examining him in such a funny way… and more than once he'd felt a shiver run down his spine or a small flip-flop in his stomach when she looked at him like that. Was he supposed to be feeling things like that for a _friend_? Especially, for a friend who was engaged to someone else? No, he wasn't. Besides, he was sure he liked blondes. That receptionist, for example, had been really pretty…

Closing his eyes, he focused on recalling the image of the lovely receptionist. Had Lois entered the bathroom then, she would have found him sprawled in the Jacuzzi, a smile on his face. However, this smile was nothing like his usual goofy ones… it was the smile of a man having an erotic fantasy. And had Lois known that the receptionist's face had somehow been replaced by _hers_ in his mind, she would have been angry. And perhaps even a little flattered.

But thankfully, Lois didn't enter the bathroom.

After fifteen minutes he spent immersed in both the hot water and a blissful fantasy featuring Lois Lane, he got out of the tub and put on a bathrobe, feeling slightly awkward. How and why had Lois appeared in his daydreams? She wasn't even that pretty… He'd seen more beautiful women. That receptionist, for example… even that blonde nurse in the Metropolis General Hospital…

He grimaced into the full-length mirror, running his hand across his black hair. _I don't have feelings for her. I mean… the only feeling I have for her is completely… platonic._

His mirror image looked back at him with a dubious expression.

With a sigh, he left the bathroom, leaving his glasses on the tiny shelf above the basin. He liked it much better when he wasn't forced to wear them.

Lois was sitting on the couch, and hearing him enter, she looked up from the TV screen.

"I see Relic Hunter's still on," he remarked, flopping down on the couch next to her. "Why haven't you switched channels?"

"Why, should I have?"

He shrugged. "I just couldn't imagine you liked an adventure-mystery series…"

"It's an okay series. Not my favourite, but… okay."

"Why, what is your favourite TV series?"

"Desperate Housewives," she giggled. "Sometimes I feel my family life is just as complicated as theirs."

"Why, _is_ your family life complicated?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

She looked away from him, as if she couldn't bear to meet his eyes. "A little…"

"It seemed a completely perfect family life to me," Clark said. "You and Richard are good for each other. Jason is adorable. It's as simple as it can be."

She looked up at him, and he was surprised to see her lips trembling. "I can't talk about it, Clark… not yet."

He slipped an arm around her. "It's okay, Lois. You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to. But remember that I'm always around if you need someone to talk to."

She smiled at him warmly. "Thank you, Clark. You're so sweet."

He was surprised how protective he felt of her as she leaned her head on his shoulder. For a few minutes they both watched Relic Hunter without saying a word. The only noises they made were a few laughs at Nigel Bailey's clumsiness.

"You know…" Clark said, as he switched off the TV with the remote control, "this show woke a funny feeling in me."

"What?" She looked up at him.

"I felt as though… we used to be like them… Sydney and Nigel. Lois and Clark. Sydney being the courageous heroine, Nigel being her klutzy sidekick who even appears to have a crush on her."

She bit into her lower lip and looked away, focusing her attention on the fluffy beige carpet that was decorated with heart-patterns.

He gently reached out and turned her face back to him. "Lois… I need to know if this is just something I'm imagining, or if it was truly like that… me being your sidekick and all…"

She heaved a sigh. "You were indeed my assistant, but… I must admit that I… I treated you much worse than Sydney ever treated Nigel. I used you, Clark… and I feel horrible about it. I don't deserve your friendship at all."

He saw that she was on the verge of tears. "Hey… don't start crying on me," he whispered, caressing her cheek. "Friendship is about forgiving, isn't it? No matter how you used to treat me, I'm still your friend. I don't remember beingyour friend… at least, not with my mind, but with my heart… I do."

"You don't understand…" She shook her head. "_Superman_ was my friend. But Clark Kent… he wasn't. I… ignored him, even… even humiliated him on certain occasions… But he was… _you were_ always so kind and understanding… you never accused me of being rude to you… you never complained about having to live in my shadow… I should have admired you for that, Clark… and all I did was _use_ you. I'm a selfish bitch."

"No, you're not. If you were, then you wouldn't be here with me, risking your career just to help me get my memories back."

"You still don't understand, do you?" She jumped up from the couch. "I volunteered to help _Superman_, not Clark! And until recently, I didn't realise what a special person Clark is! You _are_ special… and not only because you're Superman."

He stood up and put his hands on her shoulders. "Don't dwell on the past, Lois. We have to learn from the mistakes we made in the past, and move on. I bet I too made lots of stupid mistakes, even if I can't remember them… no one's perfect."

"To me you were…" she whispered, disentangling herself from his embrace. "I think we should go to sleep. I'm tired."

Puzzled by her last sentence but deciding not to pry, he nodded. "I'm tired too."

She gave him a quizzical look. "Does Superman ever get tired?"

o O o

Clark ran their conversation a thousand times across his mind, and the more he thought of it, the more he realised that there were things he was horribly confused about, and he also had the suspicion that she was hiding something.

It was well past midnight, and he was still awake, trying to make himself as comfortable on the small couch as possible. However, for someone his height, it could by no means be comfortable.

He listened to her breathing, and judging by the fact that it wasn't as rhythmic as it was supposed to be, he was pretty sure she was lying awake, just like him.

He tried to turn to his other side, but the couch was too small for acrobatics like that, and he found himself hitting the ground with a soft thump. He realised that if his fall had lasted more than one second, his flying instinct would surely have kicked in, but he was too sleepy and his mind too unfocused for that.

"Hey." Lois sat up on the bed. "Come here. This bed is big enough for both of us, and there's plenty of place here to turn around without falling off."

"Are you sure you don't mind sharing the bed with me?" he asked, sitting on the carpet.

"Absolutely," she said, and even though it was dark in the room, he could easily make out her smile. "Friends can sleep together… I mean, in one bed… can't they?"

"Of course they can," he replied with a sheepish grin and slid under the covers next to her.

Minutes passed and neither of them spoke. When Clark was beginning to think that Lois had fallen asleep, she slipped closer to him, pressing her back to his chest. He instinctively put an arm around her, and she murmured contentedly, then drifted off to sleep for real.

Before he himself dozed off, for a fleeting moment he had the feeling that holding her to him like this wasn't at all unfamiliar… and it felt good.

o O o

Next morning they pretended that nothing had happened the previous night – no serious talk, no cuddling in the bed… They even avoided each other's glance and behaved as distantly as two colleagues should. They were simply 'Lane and Kent', not 'Lois and Clark', and by no means 'Lois and Superman'.

They had breakfast and quickly packed their things. Shortly before eight, Clark claimed that his – Superman's – help was needed in Buffalo. While he was saving a family from a collapsed house, Lois booked a ticket for the Toronto-Anchorage flight whose departure was scheduled for one p.m.

At nine, they checked out of Hotel Lovebird, to the pretty receptionist lady's great disappointment. Lois felt a little contentment when Clark didn't try to flirt with the blonde at all.

Neither of them talked much during their drive from Niagara to Toronto, nor during their flight from Toronto to Anchorage. Clark mentioned once that they could have just flown from Niagara to his ice palace (with Lois navigating as he didn't remember where it was), but Lois insisted to go as far the normal human way as possible.

She remembered him telling her five years ago that his fortress was built somewhere on the north-western coast of Alaska, near Point Hope.

In Anchorage, they again rented a car and drove to Kantishna, a town that Lois had rather dark memories of – Clark had been seriously beaten there once, and that was the very place where they had found out about General Zod's arrival to Earth. She didn't want to mention this to Clark, though, because she knew if she mentioned that he had once been seriously beaten up by some random brute, he would want to know how Superman could have been beaten, and then she would need to tell him about him giving up his powers for her. She hoped he'd remember it sooner or later, but she wasn't ready to tell him about that herself. Who knows, if he found out about their bygone relationship before he actually remembered it, it might have a negative effect on his 'healing process'. And that was something Lois didn't want to risk, so she simply kept her silence.

Clark insisted that Lois needed rest, therefore he played the driver for a change.

After a day spent with travelling, they arrived at Kantishna shortly before sunset.

"I hope we can fly from here," the young man said with a hopeful smile. "I miss flying, Lois."

"Yes, Clark, we can fly from here. But let's grab some food before we do, shall we?"

"Where?" He looked around on the snow-covered streets of the Alaskan town. It was only the end of September, but in Alaska, it was winter already.

"Um…" Lois's eyes fell upon a highly familiar, dingy little restaurant. Her heart sank at the memory of seeing her beloved Clark bleeding on the floor of that very restaurant, but… _Beloved Clark?_ She repeated in herself. She swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. _Beloved Clark…_ It sounded so simple, and yet, so complicated. She'd always been in love with Superman. And now… was she falling for Clark?

"You okay?" he asked, seeing that her eyes had glazed over.

"Yeah, I just… I'm exhausted. We've been travelling for days and barely stopping to rest."

"We needn't have travelled so much if you had allowed me to fly," he reminded her.

She gave him a tired smile. "Point taken."

He sent her a triumphant grin. "Told you so."

"I was just trying to protect you by letting the world think I'm travelling with Clark Kent."

"You _are_ travelling with Clark Kent."

"To the world you're Superman. And the world doesn't need to know that you still don't have your memories back. But if they saw me flying with you, they would suspect things… and just think of Richard and Jason. What would the press write about me holidaying with amnesiac Supermacho and leaving my family behind? Your mask of Clark Kent is protecting all of us. You from the media, and me and my family… also from the media." She grimaced. "Just to think that I'm working for the media and have such a low opinion of it…"

"I'm sure you don't have low opinion of it, you're just… afraid a bit." He took her hand into his and squeezed it gently. "Everyone's afraid of something, so don't feel ashamed of it."

"Everyone?" She arched an eyebrow at him. "Is Superman too afraid of something?"

His mouth twitched. "I… I don't remember if I had been afraid of anything before I lost my memories, but now I'm afraid of never getting them fully back. I want to remember our friendship, Lois. Every moment of it. You're too special to forget any moment I spent with you."

She again felt that nasty lump in her throat. "I too hope you're going to remember soon. But now, let's get some hotdogs, shall we?" She pulled her hand out of his and began walking towards the shabby restaurant. "Our hotdogs got lost yesterday, and I'm still hungry for some."

"You really love your hotdogs, don't you?" He smiled and followed her into the restaurant.

The building itself looked just as shabby on the inside as on the outside, and was filled with smoke and country music coming from an old jukebox.

Lois and Clark started walking towards the counter. Seeing them approach, a stout man in striped red shirt let out a whimper, jumped off his seat and ran out of the building as though a thousand pitbulls had been chasing him.

"What got into Rocky?" one of the locals wondered.

"No idea," another local replied. "Bet he's seen a ghost again. Or an alien. He's been seeing them for years."

Clark took a place on the seat 'Rocky' had just vacated. "People are weird, huh?" He glanced at Lois.

"Yeah." She smirked. "Very weird."

o O o

"I've come for my son," said Richard. "I'm truly sorry I couldn't come any earlier…"

"No problem, Mr. White, your son isn't the only one still waiting for their parents to pick them up," Miss Thomas, one of Jason's teachers said with a smile. "Please wait here. He's out in the garden, playing with the others. I'm going to fetch him, just a minute."

Richard took a seat on the school's corridor, wondering where Lois could be at the moment, what she could be doing, and most importantly, what had happened between her and Superman in the past two days. _You're being silly, _he told himself._ She's not the type to cheat on you, not even with Mr. Wonderful._

He heaved a sigh. He wanted to trust her, knowing that she was an honest woman, but wasn't love stronger than honesty? Wasn't the temptation too big for her to be travelling together with the man of her dreams? And what if she came back, telling him she'd chosen Clark over him? Would he be able to stand it? And what about Jason? Would Clark want to take the father's duties over from him? If yes, would he, Richard, still be allowed to see the child? _My gosh, I'm being really stupid. Of course they will let me see Jason. Jason's as much my son as he is Su… Clark's. I still have my son, and I'm not going to lose him. Ever._

The steps of someone approaching shook him out of his reverie. He looked up to see a rather agitated Miss Thomas hurrying towards him, with no Jason in her wake. "Mr. White… I… I…"

"Where's my son?" He hopped up from the chair, his heart racing. Had the boy suffered an accident? Had he had another asthma attack and was in such a serious condition that the teachers had to call the ambulance? "What happened?"

"Jason… Jason's gone."

"Gone?" Richard whispered.

The woman nodded, her face as white as a sheet. "He disappeared, Mr White… simply disappeared."

o O o

**A/N: don't be lazy this time - be so kind and REVIEW!**


	7. Heroes Are Destined To Be Lonely

**A/N: I haven't read the novelization of Superman Returns, but Speakfire has. I asked her about some details of the book, and I decided to use some of them in my story (like 'L.D.' being the Pomeranian's original name), but some I deliberately didn't use (e.g. how Lex and Kitty got to know each other). So don't be surprised if some details in this fic contradict the SR novel.**

**Some Star Wars references appear in this chapter. Those who know me from other fandoms know well enough that SW references always pop up in my fics, no matter which fandom I'm writing in ;)**

**Not sure whose review I replied to and whose I haven't (I'm a little forgetful these days… the Christmas hype at my workplace is killing me, I've never been this tired before…), so I'm thanking everyone who reviewed chapter 6: _atlantiandragoness, MsSupaFan, Sunny2006, mary-v, septempopuli, htbthomas, blightedmetal, G.A. Clive, mistressbabette51, anonymous, mg, Speakfire, sg07, The White Lily_**

**Chapter 7**

**Heroes Are Destined To Be Lonely**

Before going to bed unusually early that evening, Kitty decided she might as well go and drink a glass of water.

Descending the stairs in her frilly nightgown, she headed for the kitchen, thinking to herself how she hated being here. Except for the phone and the Internet connection, they were practically cut off from the rest of the world. Kitty badly needed a manicure, some decent clothes and a lengthy sex massage. Juan Carlos had been an excellent masseur back in Metropolis. He had such big, strong hands… Kitty loved men with big and strong hands. Sometimes she even wondered why she had hooked up with Lex in the first place. He was neither strong nor sexy… only bald and megalomaniac. People say bald men are good in bed. Well, Lex must have been the exception.

Sipping the water, Kitty thought sourly of the beginning of her relationship with him. She had been working for Gertrude Vanderworth as her personal maid, and Gertrude's much younger husband had started giving her attention. At first their affair had been almost pleasant and the promise from Lex that he'd make her a queen once he was 'king' of Earth had sounded rather alluring.

Then, as weeks and months passed, he cared less and less for her, even neglected his duties as a lover, only concentrating on his stupid plans with the crystals. Kitty had always been bored by his Big Plans. She didn't understand them and didn't care much for ruling the world. By now she'd decided that she by no means wanted to be 'queen' in any empire Lex ever built. Lex was an evil man, and even a lousy lover. Not to mention that he'd forbidden her to leave this house until his small 'cottage' in the Rocky Mountains was properly furnished for them to move there.

Kitty wasn't charmed by the idea of moving to the Rocky Mountains. They were cut off from everything enough as it was, and currently they weren't even that far from Metropolis. She shuddered at the thought of living at the back of beyond for the purposes of fulfilling another dastardly plan of Lex's. And just to think that the dastardly plan included Superman made her cringe. She didn't want Superman to be hurt. Whatever the hero had done to Lex, Lex had surely deserved it, she decided. Superman was a nice guy with beautiful cerulean eyes, strong arms, big hands… He sort of reminded her of Juan Carlos. She wondered what it would feel like if Superman touched her like her masseur usually did…

As she passed by the room in which Lex kept his computer, a voice caught her ears. It was undoubtedly Lex's, and since very likely nobody else was in the house, he must have been having a phone conversation with someone.

Kitty pressed her ear to the door, the thrill of eavesdropping spreading in her, sending tingling sensations throughout her body. She'd been so bored in this house for days that eavesdropping on her boyfriend was a totally exciting experience.

"I hope you've received my little package, Higgins," the man's voice came from the room. "The contents of that package are an important part of the furnishing, so treat them carefully."

A short pause followed, and the woman assumed the interior decorator was talking.

"Yes, exactly," Lex replied to whatever Higgins had said. "Place chunks of it wherever you can. Decorate the house with it. Put some into the walls and under the floorboards. Hang it like crystals from the chandelier. I leave it to your imagination. Be as creative as you want. I want to surprise a friend of mine when he arrives to visit my house. Oh, and make sure you put lots of the… material into the playroom." Lex let out a cold laugh that made a shiver run down Kitty's spine.

"All right, Higgins. Make sure that all of your men leave the house by tomorrow evening. My guest is rather shy… He needs peace. And he'll get it."

A soft click suggested that Lex had ended the call.

"Yeah…" he murmured, just loud enough for Kitty to hear, "he's going to be _at peace_. Soon."

Kitty felt as though an icy hand had clenched at her heart. Lex was again after Superman! He knew it was Clark Kent, and he wouldn't leave the poor man in peace as long as he lived… And what was that funny conversation about the decorations? Chunks of what?

Kitty's eyes widened. _Kryptonite._ Of course! Lex had once mentioned that a friend of his at NASA could get him some of the green crystals from New Krypton. Apparently that friend had already got some and Lex had sent it to the 'interior decorators'. _Henchmen_, Kitty would rather have called them. And what about decorating the _playroom_? – she wondered.

Suddenly, she heard soft beeps coming from the room that suggested Lex was again calling someone on the phone.

"You got the kid?" he demanded.

A short pause.

"Good. Keep him bound and under constant watch. Make sure that at least two men are guarding him at once. Two _armed_ men. We can't take chances with that boy. As for your next assignment… there's a lovely old lady living on a farm near Smallville, Kansas. Kent. Martha Kent."

Again a soft click indicated that Lex had ended the call. Kitty hurried up the stairs, careful to not make any noise.

"Oh, Ripper…" she sighed as she flopped down on her bed. "I feel so sorry for poor Superman… Lex is soooo evil."

The dog barked in agreement.

o O o

Lois and Clark were having dinner in the small restaurant in Kantishna – Clark ate spaghetti, Lois had two hotdogs. The TV was switched on, but they weren't paying attention to it until the newsreader of CNN mentioned Superman's name.

Both Lois and Clark looked up at the screen to see an amateur video taken by someone in Buffalo in the morning. It showed Superman saving a family from a collapsed house.

"_The hero, as always, disappeared after his latest rescue, and we can only guess if he's still suffering from amnesia. According to the locals at Buffalo, he looked completely confident, not showing any signs of identity-crisis, so we have every reason to be optimistic. And now, heated arguments at the Congress about the bill to the Amendment of the Education Act…_"

The guests' attention immediately turned back to their plates and drinks. Perry had been right, Lois mused, people were really interested in three things only: tragedy, sex and Superman.

"I wish I could be like him," a man in his forties sighed to Clark's left.

"Who? Superman?" another man, with a nose red from frequent alcohol-consumption, laughed. "Dream on, Johnny."

"I would not want to be like him," a tiny voice spoke up.

Clark turned in the voice's direction to see a girl of about twelve.

"Why not, Dorothy?" the red-nosed man asked. "Everyone wants to be like him!"

"I don't, Uncle Jim," the girl said firmly. "And neither should anyone else. You all see him as an admirable man, but he is not."

"What are you talking about, daughter?" The man named John looked curiously at her. So did Clark.

"I think he's pitiable," Dorothy replied. "Yes, he's strong and handsome and every woman's in love with him and every man envies him, but… he doesn't have a life."

"What makes you think he doesn't?" her father asked with a frown.

The girl shrugged. "His life is about nothing but saving people. I bet he doesn't have time for a family or friends. He must be very, very lonely."

Her Uncle Jim shook his head. "For all you know, he could have a family."

Dorothy made a grimace. "Superheroes don't get married or have children. They would only endanger their family if they did. Like… the Jedi in the Old Republic. They were forbidden to develop attachments in order to be able to focus all their attention on helping others. That's why Anakin Skywalker had to hide his love for Padmé. By loving her, he caused her death. Or just think of his son, Luke. I've read many of the Extended Universe books, and poor Luke couldn't settle down, because every time he fell for someone, the girl either died or got scared of his powers and fled. Later, he gave up on finding a wife, because he knew that anyone who got close to him would suffer. I bet Superman's like that too. He'd rather give up on family than risk the lives of those he loves… _if_ he loves anyone like that. Perhaps he doesn't even allow himself to love anyone."

Lois glanced at Clark to see that he was intently listening to the precocious twelve-year-old's monologue. His features seemed tense, and there was surprise – or rather shock – in his eyes. She reached out and squeezed his hand that was resting on the counter.

"Oh, rubbish," the man named Jim replied with an impatient wave of his hand. "Your daughter's read too much science fiction, Johnny. I bet not even Superman has always been a single. He's like… you know, a god or something. And gods in legends sometimes breed on mortal women. Zeus for example did that all the time." He winked at his brother with a cheeky grin. "Wonder if Superman has done it too…"

Lois caught herself jerking her hand back from Clark's as though it had burned her.

"Um… everything okay, Lois?" the young man asked with a worried expression.

"Yeah… er… and with you?" she asked, finding herself equally worried about how the conversation they had overheard affected him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He shrugged with a would-be confident look, but she saw the confusion in his eyes, and even a trace of sadness. Surely, he couldn't remember having pushed her away in order to protect her, nor of 'breeding on her' like the gods in the Greek myths did with female humans; and yet, he seemed to _know_ that he had always been lonely.

"Well, I think we should just grab some food for the journey and be off before the night falls," she suggested.

Clark nodded, buying a few sandwiches and two bottles of Coke, then followed her out of the restaurant.

It was dusk outside with just enough light to see the outlines of the buildings around. Wordlessly, they got into their rented car and Clark drove out of the town to make sure no one would see them flying away. As he stopped the engine a mile from the inhabited area, he turned to her. "You know, it's funny how a seemingly uneducated Alaskan farmer knows about Greek mythology."

Lois made a grimace. "Yes, funny. I didn't like that god-simile, though."

He laughed. "Neither did I. _Superman_ sounds stuck-up enough, but a god… oh, come on. I'm just a human like everyone else. I don't _feel_ I'm more than anyone else. I'm just an ordinary guy with some weird powers."

She gave him a smile. "You know… I'm starting to like the ordinary guy."

He returned her smile, the warmth radiating from his eyes making her whole body tingle.

"I'm glad that you've started to regard Clark as your friend too, not only Superman," he said gently.

She gulped. "I… I don't understand how I didn't see what you, _Clark_, really were like." She reached out to take his glasses off, but he caught her hand and gently pressed it to his cheek.

"I must have been hiding it. Perhaps… perhaps for the same reason that girl, Dorothy said. Perhaps I didn't want my friends to be in danger… if I have friends besides you at all."

"Yes… I'm sure that must have been the reason," she whispered, feeling that her voice wasn't strong enough to speak any louder. His cheek and hand were so warm… and they felt so soft, even though she knew that any body part of his could be as hard as a brick wall if you tried to punch him. As his big hand covered her small one, she felt a familiar flip-flop in her stomach, and for once she knew it wasn't caused by Superman, but Clark Kent.

_Richard. What about Richard?_ – a voice in her head screamed, and she pulled back, getting out of the car. "Come on, Prince Charming. Fly me to your fairy tale palace."

o O o

Richard thought he was close to losing it. He'd spent hours at the Police station, along with Jason's teacher Miss Thomas. The police officers had asked both of them hundreds of questions, and not only them but even the children Jason had been playing with before he disappeared. According to the other kids, they had been playing with a ball that rolled away and Jason was the one who'd run after it, into the shrubbery surrounding the school's garden. And he'd never emerged from the bushes again.

The officers claimed to have found footprints around the bushes – two pairs of adult footprints and one pair of child footprint – the latter must have belonged to Jason.

"It is apparent that the kidnappers had been waiting for Jason there," said Captain Davies.

"For Jason… or for any child," added a corporal.

"Yes, perhaps…" mused the captain. "Well, Mr. White, we promise to do everything in our power to find your son. We suggest you go home and try to rest now."

_Rest!_ Richard wanted to shout at them, but he just nodded. Of course the police were doing everything! But they didn't know why someone – anyone – would want to kidnap Jason! They didn't know that Jason was Superman's son!

Richard was sure that whoever abducted the child knew about his parentage. But who could know it besides Lois?

Then it dawned on him – Jason had thrown a piano on Luthor's yacht. Luthor must have put two and two together, and he'd always been after Superman… so he'd kidnapped the second best, the hero's only child.

_Damn you, Clark Kent_, Richard thought bitterly. _Not only did you return to turn my peaceful family life upside down, but you even put **my **son in danger! Heck, I don't care if he has **your **bloody genes, **I** am his father and you have no right to waltz into our life and ruin it! And Lois? She isn't answering my calls! What the hell are you two doing to keep that stupid mobile shut off?_

Nervously, he dialled Lois's number again, only to get the message that she was still unavailable. He'd been trying to reach her for hours. Where on earth could she be?

o O o

"Am I right assuming that we're flying over some mountains at the moment?" asked Lois.

"Yes, we are. Brooks Range, if I remember it well from Geography," Clark replied.

"Then fly a little to the west. Your fortress is not far from the coast."

"Now, is it a palace or a fortress?"

"It's called the Fortress of Solitude… but to me it was like the castle of the Snow Queen or something," Lois replied. "It was magnificent."

"_That_ magnificent?" He pointed at something far ahead that she couldn't see both because it was very dark and because it was very far.

"Er… Clark, may I remind you that my vision isn't as brilliant as yours? I sometimes even need glasses."

"Me too," he replied, and despite the darkness, she would have sworn he was grinning.

"Of course, Superman _so_ needs glasses!" She elbowed him gently in the ribs. "I wear glasses for reading and writing. You wear them to hide your true identity!"

"I'm not exactly hiding it. My true identity is Clark, isn't it? Superman is the mask I'm occasionally wearing, but I'm just Clark."

Again, for the umpteenth time that day, she felt an urge to gather him into her arms and ask for his forgiveness for having ignored his Clark-self so long, but she didn't act on it for two reasons: one – her current position (having his arm around her waist) didn't allow for such acrobatics, two – deep down she was still hurt by the memory wipe he had executed on her. She knew that if he hadn't lost his memories, she would have shouted at him for having manipulated her brains without her permission, but given the current situation, she had to hold back from venting her anger at him. And, even if she didn't want to admit it to herself, her anger over the mind-wipe was subsiding with every minute she spent with him.

It was true that he'd deceived her with the glasses and the pretended clumsiness of Clark Kent, but she had usedClark and talked down to him. Both of them had sinned against the other, and both of them had a reason to say 'sorry', and perhaps, both of them deserved to get an 'I forgive you' from the other.

"Well, _Just Clark_, I think you have found your palace," she said as they dived into a gorge where thousands of ice-crystals the size of one-tonne steel girders stood out of the ground in various directions. Some formed walls, some lay on the ground as white floorboards, and some functioned as the roof.

"It's dark," Lois remarked as they touched down by the entrance. "Last time we were here, it was much brighter, even at night."

"Well, perhaps we just have to turn on the light," he said, entering the fortress. He looked around in the darkness. "No lamps. No switch either."

"As far as I remember, last time you used crystals to make this place habitable."

"What crystals?"

"Uh... bugger."

"Excuse me?"

Lois heaved a sigh and started searching for something in her handbag. "I think Luthor stole them. I saw them on that ship where-"

"…Jason threw the piano?"

The woman gasped. "How do you know about that?"

"I… Um, Lois, I'm sorry about that, but when I spent the night at your place, I accidentally overheard a few things. Jason told you about the piano. I thought it was weird that a little boy like him could do such a thing, and even mentioned it to Richard-"

"You did WHAT?" she snapped, finally jerking the tiny object she'd been looking for, out of her bag. With a soft hiss, a tiny light appeared in the darkness – a flame produced by Lois's cigarette lighter. "You… _told him_?"

Clark stared at the woman, not understanding her outburst. "Why, what's wrong with that? Richard is supposed to know what kinds of things his son is capable of, isn't he?"

Trembling from head to toe, Lois clutched at the cigarette lighter. In its tiny light, she saw an expression of complete innocence on his face. This was a man as unsuspecting as a newborn child. And in his ignorance, he had inadvertently revealed it to Richard that Jason was _his_ son. Without even _knowing_ that Jason was his son.

Lois hung her head. "Yes. I guess he was supposed to know. Sorry about shouting at you."

"No problem." He smiled at her, gently squeezing her shoulder. "Hey, you're freezing. Come here, I'll warm you up."

Putting out the light, she let him gather her into his arms. Her face resting on the blue material of his Superman suit, she inhaled his uniquely masculine scent. Within a few seconds she was feeling hot, and she was sure it wasn't only due to his special heating-technique, but because her heart was pumping so fast that even her almost-frozen fingers and toes got enough blood-supply to get warm. She was hoping beyond hope that he didn't register her quick heartbeat as a sign of sexual attraction. As far as he knew, they were, and had always been, just friends. And she was engaged to another man.

"Do you… do you think you could light this place somehow?" she whispered, gently disentangling herself from his embrace.

"Uh, no, sorry. Even Mr. Supermacho has his limits," he added with a sarcastic edge that suggested he still felt uncomfortable about being referred to as 'Superman' and wearing a costume with a huge red 'S'. Clark Kent was too shy for the amount of attention Superman was getting. Lois caught herself wondering how he had ever dealt with the adoration of millions while he was in fact a withdrawn person. It couldn't have been easy, and yet he'd taken on the burden of becoming famous, just to help people. But had he truly forbidden himself to love, like the Jedi in George Lucas's tale?

"Never mind, Clark. You can see in the darkness, so you're going to be my light."

She felt his hand closing around hers. "What would you like to do in the darkness, my lady?"

"Naughty thoughts, Prince Charming?" she laughed.

"Not at all. Just tell me where to lead you, what to do… There's a table, for example. We could sit there and talk."

"I think I'd rather choose the bed," she said, blushing. "I'm sleepy."

"Okay. I see a huge, silver bed hanging in the corner over there."

Lois was sure he was pointing in a direction but she couldn't see anything.

"Looks really comfortable," he added.

"It is," she replied absent-mindedly.

"Have you slept here before?" his voice sounded surprised.

"Er… yes." _Don't look at me, please, don't look at me now!_ – She thought desperately, knowing that she must look redder than she'd ever looked before.

"And where did I sleep then? There's no couch here," Clark pointed out.

She swallowed hard. "You… you slept beside me. Like… we did in the hotel last night." _I'm not even lying, am I? You did sleep beside me after we made mad, passionate love three times in a row…_

"Lois, are you all right? Your face is extremely red."

_Damn it_. "Yes, of course. I just think you perhaps… overdid the heating a bit."

"I don't think so. Your body temperature is completely normal."

"Then just… the wind. When we were flying. The wind made my cheeks rosy."

"If you say so… Come." He took her by the hand again, leading her towards the bed. "Here. You can have it all for yourself, I'm not tired yet."

"Oh… okay. But you can join me later, when you…get tired." _Of course you never get tired. You can go on making love for hours even without your powers… I'm curious how long your stamina lasts when you **have** your powers… Oh, crap. Why are you doing this to me? I'm long past puberty, for heaven's sake, and here I am, drooling over… Clark. Not Superman. **Clark.** Bloody hell._

"I will. Good night, Lois."

"Good night, Clark."

o O o

"Kitty, wake up!"

The woman squinted at the clock on the bedside table. "It's barely midnight, Lex. What do you want at such an ungodly hour?" she complained.

"I'll tell you on the way. Get dressed."

"Dressed?"

"Yes, Kitty, dressed. You know, getting dressed is when you put on clothes," Luthor said irritably. "Oh, and bring something warm."

"But Leeeex, I don't have warm clothes here! I never had a chance to buy any clothes because you haven't even let me out of the house!"

The man heaved a sigh. "There are a few old, moth-eaten but still usable coats hanging in the wardrobe in the hall. Choose one. What are you waiting for, get moving!"

Giving her boyfriend a miffed look, Kitty got out of bed. "Where are we going, Lex? I want to know!"

"Shut up and hurry, the chopper's waiting for us!" With that, he stormed out of the room.

With a sour expression, Kitty began to dress. The Pomeranian let out a few indignant barks.

"Exactly as you say, Ripper."

o O o

Lois awoke sometime past midnight – at least she thought it _must have been_ past midnight, but there wasn't enough light to see her watch and tell the time. However, there _was_ enough light to see that Clark was sitting at the end of the bed with hunched shoulders.

Lois searched for her cell phone in her bag, and by pushing a button, the tiny screen lit up to show it was one a.m. She also noticed that there was no reception, so even if anyone had tried to contact her through her cell phone, they couldn't.

She slipped the phone into her pocket, surprised that he hadn't even budged, even though he seemed awake and she was sure he'd heard her fishing the phone out of her bag.

He just sat there unmoving, and Lois soon realised what was slightly illuminating his form – she could see the crescent moon through a gap in the 'roof'. In the dim light she could tell that he was no longer wearing his Superman suit, but his ordinary, trademark Clark Kent attire that he must have got in a second-hand clothes shop that only sold things from the 1970's. She'd always thought his clothing was ridiculously old-fashioned, but now that she better knew the man behind the outdated suits, she thought these clothes actually fit him: besides being a fun person, there was something touchingly old-fashioned in his character.

"Everything all right, Clark?" she asked, sitting up.

He shifted his position to face her. "Yeah. Just been thinking."

"About what?"

"When I awoke from the coma, you said you didn't think I had a wife. You also said you didn't know if I had other friends. And apparently I don't have either, neither as Clark, nor as Superman. My mother would have told me if I did, but she only talked about childhood friends of mine. Jimmy at the Planet seemed to be friendly enough, but not even he strikes me as a person whom I'd tell my deepest secrets." He gave her a sad, wistful smile. "Dorothy must have been right. I don't have anyone to love, besides my mother."

Lois wanted to say 'yes, you do – you have me and our son', but she couldn't. Her vocal cords simply failed her, so she just reached out and pulled him into her arms and rocked him gently, like she always did with Jason when the little boy couldn't fall asleep. Like so many times since he'd awoken from his coma, Clark reminded her of an over-sized baby. But, as she ran her hand down his muscled back in a reassuring, caressing motion, she caught herself thinking that she'd never felt so attracted to anyone before. Not Richard, not even Superman… because, at the moment, she couldn't think of him as Superman. He was just Clark. Gorgeous but shy, strong but strangely weak like any human being.

After a while Clark began returning her caresses, gently drawing invisible circles on her back. It felt too good to be allowed. It felt almost sinful to lean into his arms and tremble like jelly at his touch. _End it, Lois! Pull back, or you'll end up getting laid in the very same space-age bed you did five years ago!_

_But why would I want to pull back? Heck, I want him!_

_And Richard?_

_To hell with…_

_Oh, no, that was such a selfish thought… I can't do this to him…_

Lois slowly pulled back until they were facing each other, their breath warm on each other's cheek. _Just this one thing. I have to do this one thing!_ She leaned forward to give him a feather-light peck on the lips, but before her lips could touch his, her conscience kicked in, and the kiss ended up on the corner of his mouth. _An innocent kiss, more or less on the cheek. Nothing wrong with it, is there? Phhh… yeah, there is. If I could, I'd smooch him senseless and ravish him. Then I could write a second Pulitzer winning article: **I Spent** **Another Night With Superman - Possibly Even Better Than The First One**. People would love it, and Perry too – after all, it would include two of his favourite topics: sex and Superman._

"Lois, everything okay? You look rather funny," he remarked.

"Uh, why, what do I look like?" she asked with a nervous smile.

"Er… dunno. Like someone who's fighting an inner battle over eating a BigMac or a plate of low-calorie salad?" He shrugged with a smirk.

_You being the BigMac and Richard the salad?_ She thought with a grimace. "Well, I can assure you that I wasn't thinking about eating. I'm not hungry…" _…for food. Though you look delicious enough to eat. Not that I see much of you at the moment… but you **always **look delicious enough to eat._

"And not sleepy either?"

_Not as long as I have you in bed with me…_ "Yeah, very. Let's drop off, shall we?"

He nodded and joined her under the covers.

"Do you mind if I… rest my head on your shoulder?" she whispered. "It gives me a feeling of comfort."

"Not at all."

She leaned into his arms, relishing the feeling. Five years ago, they had slept here in exactly the same position - she cuddled to him, and thinking that there was no safer place in the world than Clark Kent's strong arms. "Clark…"

"Yes?"

"About what Dorothy said…"

"Hmm?"

"Luke Skywalker did get married. Apparently Dorothy didn't read all the Extended Universe books, but my sister Lucy's eldest son did." She let out a small chuckle. "He bored me hours on end with retelling the stories of all Star Wars books he'd ever read. He's a real fanatic, even dressed up as Darth Vader for the school costume ball… Um… what I meant by it is that you have a chance to have a family… someday. Luke had to wait over a decade for it, but he succeeded in the end… So don't give up hope." _Someone will make you happy some day, even if it's not me. _She found herself blinking back a tear. She so wanted it to be her… but things were too complicated for that.

"Er, Lois?"

"Yes?"

"I have a feeling of déjá vu again."

"About what?"

He paused for a few seconds. "Holding you in my arms just like this."

She lifted her head to look at him. "Well, last night you did hold me in your arms…"

He shook his head. "But not like this. And not in this bed."

"Clark, we've talked this over. We have slept together in this bed before… I mean, we both slept in this bed before…" _Heavens, Lane, can't you **not** talk in double-entendres?_

He nodded hesitantly. "Then that must be it. But… I don't know why I'm getting this funny feeling that last time we slept like this here, we weren't wearing…"

"What, Clark?"

"Never mind. Good night, Lois."

"Good night, Clark."

o O o

Lois thought in her sleep that she'd heard the noise of a helicopter. Her sub-conscious, however, registered it as part of her dream. A dream, in which she and Clark were very close to each other on the roof of the Daily Planet building… And a helicopter swooped over them. They didn't even notice, though, because their minds were somewhere else…

She smiled into his shoulder, still not waking. Minutes passed, and she slept on, dreaming about blissful moments with him, snogging on the roof until the top floor's door opened and Richard walked out onto the terrace with heavy, echoing steps. She even wondered how his steps could echo so much in an open area…

"Well, well, well, aren't the lovebirds cute together?" Richard said in a voice that wasn't at all like his. It was lower, raspier and nastier. Lois was sure she'd heard that voice before…

"Absolutely," a female voice replied.

Funny, in her dream, there was no other female with them on the rooftop. Something in her mind nudged her to realise that this was no longer a dream.

Her eyes flew open to see six people standing in a circle around the bed – a familiar bald man and a woman with curly black hair, and four unknown musclemen. She saw all of them clearly, as it was broad daylight already.

"Wake up Superman, Miss Lane," the bald man said with a malicious grin. "Or shall I call him Clark Kent?"

Lois's eyes widened. How had they found out?

"Clark…" She gently poked him with her index finger. "Clark, wake up…"

He didn't even budge. Martha had been right to say that you could fire cannons next to him and he wouldn't wake, unless someone was crying for help! "_Clark, help_!"

"Huh?" He sat up immediately, as alert as though he hadn't been sleeping at all. He spotted their 'guests'. "Um, Lois… have you invited these people?"

"No," she replied heavily.

He glanced at her with a curious expression. "Are they friends?"

She gave Luthor a piercing stare. "No, Clark. They're enemies."

o O o

**A/N: if you like the fic enough to have it on your alert list (and many of you apparently do), then please, at least comment on it once in a while. You know you want to… +_uses hypnotic voice+_**

**Not sure if I can update before Christmas, so I'm taking the opportunity to wish you all a very MERRY CHRISTMAS! (P.S.: keep an eye on my deviantart gallery for a special Superman Christmas gift for all Clark fangirls – coming soon ;) **


	8. Family Reunion

**A/N: eventually I managed to update once more before Christmas. I hope you're happy about it and will reward me with lots of reviews ;)**

**Again, I'm not sure whose review I've replied to and whose I haven't, so I'm thanking everyone who reviewed chapter 7: _atlantiandragoness, The Spooky Mulder, kat, Rongo, Alphie, DragonFlame27, htbthomas, mary-v, blightedmetal, The White Lily, MsSupaFan, septempopuli, G.A. Clive, bluecatdevil, estetson47, The Kiss of Death, mistressbabette51, Chixawitch, Danny, Saavikam77_**

**Chapter 8**

**Family Reunion**

"No, Clark. They're enemies," Lois said.

Clark heard the quick beating of her heart, which meant these people really must have been enemies. "Let me guess, Lex Luthor?"

"Bravo, Superman, you've guessed it well." The bald man clapped with a nasty grin. "Yes, indeed, I'm Lex Luthor, your archenemy."

"I don't see an enemy." Clark shrugged, tossing the silver comforter aside and standing up. As he did, however, he felt a wave of dizziness wash over him. He stumbled, but managed to stand upright. _What's happening to me?_ His mind screamed.

Luthor just grinned, and opened his coat to reveal a necklace of green crystals. At a wave of his hand, everyone else around revealed similar necklaces under their winter coats. "Can you guess what this is, Superman, or have you forgotten that too?"

Clark knitted his eyebrows, feeling a bead of sweat running down the side of his face. He remembered Lois mentioning something about a crystal-like, emerald material. That was allegedly the only thing that could hurt him. "Kryptonite," he breathed.

"Yes, bravo!" Luthor clapped again. "Apparently you aren't as amnesiac as you pretend to be, _Clark_."

The young man froze, and from the corner of his eye he saw that so did Lois. "How do you know my name?" he demanded, finding it harder and harder to stand upright and look confident.

"Easily, Clark." Lex shrugged. "I've been following Miss Lane with a satellite for days. I assumed she was trying to help Superman in regaining his memories, and I thought wherever she was, Superman would be near. And I was right! After having seen you leave the Kent house at dawn in your ridiculous blue suit, I knew it was you. And who else could have saved Miss Lane from the horrible current of the river if not Superman?"

Clark's hands clenched into fists. "What do you want, Luthor?"

The bald man smirked. "You'll find out later, Clark. First I'd like you to accompany me to my rustic hillside cottage for some… private talk."

"Rustic cottage?" Clark raised an eyebrow at him. "Where?"

"The Rocky Mountains. A completely secluded area where…" Luthor's grin grew even wider, "…no one can hear you scream."

Clark felt Lois grab his arm and squeeze it. "I'm not the type to scream, Luthor," he hissed, suddenly thankful to Lois for holding his arm, as he felt his knees were getting weaker by the second. Without her support, he knew he might collapse.

The bald man heaved a dramatic sigh. "We'll see. I'm a patient man. Last time I thought we'd killed you after only a few minutes of beating… how naive of me to assume that the planet's _greatest hero_ could be defeated so easily…" He shook his head with a look that suggested he was mad at himself for having let his prey escape. "This time, Clark, it's going to be a prolonged fight for you. Not a few minutes, not a few days, but weeks… _months_, if needed. And after a while, you will be begging me to stab you in the heart with Kryptonite… and perhaps… I will be a merciful man and relieve you of your pain."

o O o

Jason was awakened from his sleep by the creaking of a door. He opened his eyes, and the first thing he registered was that two rather unsympathetic men had entered through the creaking door, shoving an elderly lady through it.

"Hey, the kid's awake!" one of them said. "Sleep well, Sonny?"

Jason didn't know how to react. He wanted to ask 'who are you?' 'where am I?' and 'where's Mommy and Daddy?' but he found his tongue wasn't cooperating. So he just stared, wide-eyed, at the evil-looking men.

"Have you gone dumb, Sonny?" one of the men snapped and advanced on the child with a menacing expression.

Jason shook his head, still not able to utter a single word.

"Leave him, Ross," the other man grunted. "Mr. Luthor said not to harm him… yet. Hey, kid, you're getting a companion until your daddy arrives. You, old woman, will get your personal 'room' once it's ready, but alas, the interior decorators are still working on it." He sent the elderly lady a nasty smirk. "Enjoy each other's company!"

With that, he and his friend left the room and the door banged shut behind them.

"Are you okay, honey?" The elderly lady crouched down next to Jason with a worried look on her otherwise kind face.

"Um… yeah," the little boy said, finding that once those unsympathetic men were not present, he felt a little more confident. This old lady looked really, really nice… Jason wasn't afraid of her at all. "Who are you? And where are we? Where's Mommy and Daddy?"

"One question at a time, young man." The woman held up a hand with a gentle smile. "First, I'm Martha Kent."

"Kent?" Jason's eyes widened. "Are you related to Su… I mean, Mr. Clark?"

"Yes, dear. I'm his mother. I know he's Superman, so no need to pretend you don't know."

"Oh, okay." He shrugged. "So, you're Superman's Mommy. What is it like to be Superman's Mommy?"

"I don't know, dear." She laughed. "It's hardly describable. I'm proud of my son, but I'm always afraid for him. He has many enemies."

"Like that ugly bald man?" Jason asked.

"That's Lex Luthor, and yes. He's Clark's enemy, Jason."

"How do you know my name?" He looked suspiciously at her. "I haven't yet introduced myself. Are you a mind-reader? Do you have super-powers like Mr. Clark?"

The elderly lady laughed again. "No, dear, I fear I have to disappoint you – I don't have any super-powers. I'm just an ordinary old woman. And I know you because your mother told me about you when she and Clark visited me a few days ago. I even saw a photo of you."

"Ah, I see." The boy nodded.

"As to your second question…" Martha heaved a sigh. "We are here because Lex Luthor wants to hurt my son by threatening those whom he loves."

Jason pursed his lips. "Mr. Clark loves me too?"

"Yes, dear, I'm sure he loves you. You're very important to him."

"But why? I hardly know him. We only talked a bit at the Planet."

"He loves you because he loves your Mommy."

"Aha… I remember that he told me that Mommy and he used to be friends before I was born… But now he doesn't remember he loved Mommy before he left, so he doesn't love her, and doesn't love me either… does he?"

"Even if he doesn't remember with his mind, with his heart, I'm sure he does."

Jason thought for a moment. "Okay, so he loves Mommy, even if he doesn't remember that he does. But he still doesn't know me well, only Mommy. Why did the evil bald man kidnap _me_ and not my Mommy?"

Martha gave the child a sad smile. "I fear he's going to try and kidnap your Mommy too."

"But he can't do that," Jason said simply. "Mommy is together with Superman. Superman won't let her be kidnapped."

"Not unless… unless they have Kryptonite."

"Kryptonite? That green, shiny thing?"

Martha nodded. "Have you seen Kryptonite, Jason?"

"Yup. The evil bald man showed Mommy some of it on the ship. And then he asked Mommy who my father was." The little boy made a grimace. "I don't understand why he asked that, though…"

"Jason… what did you feel when you saw the Kryptonite?"

"I felt… weird."

"Did you feel sick? Weaker than usual?"

Jason tried to remember. "No. Just weird. Why?"

"Because… Jason…" Martha looked around. "Um… I don't know if they're monitoring us here, but I'm not sure it's a good idea to talk about this when they could overhear us… they might not want me to tell you certain things – yet."

"Don't worry, there are no cameras here," Jason said with the air of a well-trained spy.

"How do you know?" The woman looked surprised.

"I don't see any."

"Jason, cameras could be hidden anywhere, even where you can't see them. In tiny cracks in the wall, for example…"

"There are none," the boy insisted. "The only things in the wall are bricks and chunks of Kryptonite."

"Kr…Kryptonite?" Martha shuddered. "Are you feeling all right, honey?"

"Yes, completely all right." Jason nodded, not understanding why this old lady was so worried.

"Bricks and Kryptonite…" Martha muttered, her eyes fixed on the child. "Can you _see through the walls_, Jason?"

He nodded. "Yes, though I don't know how and why. It never happened before. Not until I woke up in this room…"

Martha put a hand on the little boy's shoulder. "Well, if you're sure there are no cameras… we have to talk really seriously, Jason."

"Then let's talk seriously." He shrugged.

"I know it isn't my place to tell you this, and our kidnappers might be mad at me for telling you… but I think it's better for you to find out from me, not them."

The little boy knitted his eyebrows. "You really sound serious."

"I am serious, Jason. When that man said you were getting me as your companion until your daddy arrived… well, when he said 'your daddy', he wasn't referring to Richard White."

"But he's my daddy," Jason said.

"Listen, dear… Let me explain things. The reason why I don't have special-powers and Clark does is that he isn't my biological son. He's from another planet named Krypton and arrived to Earth when he was even younger than you are now. My husband Jonathan and I took him in and raised him as our son, because his biological parents, who lived on his destroyed planet, had died. Richard White is your daddy in the same way Jonathan was Clark's daddy. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Jason nodded. "Daddy isn't my bio… boil… whatever-father. But he's still my daddy."

"Yes, dear." Martha sent the child a relieved smile. "Richard is your foster father. Your biological father is Clark."

Jason's eyes widened. "_Superman is my daddy_?"

"Yes, honey. He is."

"Whoa. Then you're my granny!"

"Yes, Jason, I am." Martha smiled.

Jason just looked at the old woman for a few moments, not really knowing how to process the amount of information he had just learned. It was a bit too much for a five-year-old.

"Are you all right, Jason?" his grandmother asked gently.

The little boy nodded. "I think so. May I hug you, Granny?"

"I just wanted to ask you," she replied, tears welling up in her eyes as her grandson flung himself into her embrace.

After a while, Jason pulled back. "So that's why Mr. Clark loves me. Because he too is my daddy… But Granny… how does someone become someone's biolo… boilogic… father? I don't get it." He shook his head with a confused expression.

"I think… we should talk about that some time later, Jason," Martha replied, and the boy didn't understand why her cheeks had turned red.

"Why, how long are we going to stay here? And where is _here_?"

The old woman stood up and looked out the window that had strong bars before it. Beyond the bars, however, she saw water sparkling in the early morning sunshine. It was a lake, surrounded by pines and high mountains. "I'd say we're somewhere in the mountains," she said. "Probably the Rocky Mountains, if we're still in the U.S. I was kidnapped sometime around two a.m., and it seems around ten o'clock now. They couldn't have taken me to another continent in such a short time… I'm quite sure it's the Rocky Mountains, Jason."

"It's pretty," the boy said, easily looking through the wall, onto the lake. "I always wanted to go hiking in the mountains, but Daddy said I wasn't old enough for that… Really, Granny… if Richard is my daddy, and Mr. Clark is my daddy too, then… what should I call them to dist… disin…"

"Distinguish between them?" she helped him out.

"Yeah."

"Well, Jason… you could call Clark 'father', for example."

The child looked contemplative. "Daddy and Father. Sounds okay." He turned his attention away from the lake-view, to look properly around in the room. So far he'd only scanned the walls for cameras (he'd once seen the hero in a cartoon do it and he'd longed to try it ever since), and now he was giving more attention to the furnishings.

There was a child-sized bed in the corner, a small table with a couple of chairs, and a shelf full of toys. Jason's face lit up and he ran to the shelf.

"Jason, no!"

However, the little boy had already taken a toy figure shaped like a small bear into his hands.

"Jason, drop it!"

"Why?" The child frowned.

"It's made of Kryptonite," Martha whispered. "Heavens… what barbarians… All of the toys are made of Kryptonite!"

"Really?" Jason looked closer at the small bear-figure. "Hmm… yep, it looks like that."

"Jason. Drop. It."

"But it doesn't hurt me, Granny!"

Martha made a move for the toy bear with the intention of pulling it out of the child's hand, but Jason held it in a vice-like grip. Suddenly there was a crack, and both of them stared at the one-time bear that was reduced to smithereens in the boy's fist.

"Oops." He dropped the tiny pieces of Kryptonite. "I didn't mean to ruin it…" He looked up at his grandmother with a guilty expression.

The old woman knelt down next to him and examined his palm. There wasn't a scratch on it, even though the tiny chunks of Kryptonite had sharp edges. There weren't any blisters either. "Jason," she spoke up, "let's hide the ruins. And if you are asked by the bad men if you're feeling sick, tell them that you are."

"But that's lying," the boy protested. "Mommy always says one shouldn't lie."

Martha took the child's hands and looked deeply into his clear blue eyes. "Once in a while, a little fib can save lives. If you can hide the fact that your health and abilities are not affected by Kryptonite, it can save us all."

The child bit into his lower lip. "All of us? Who, besides you and me?"

Suddenly they heard the noise of steps, and all Martha could do was quickly sweep the chips of the 'late' toy bear under the carpet before the door swung open and one of the musclemen arrived with two sandwiches. "Just got some good news for both of you," he sneered at them. "Kid, you're going to see your Mommy soon. And you old woman, you're going to see your son. Happy?"

Martha gave him a withering glance and didn't reply.

"And you, kid? Happy?" the man demanded.

Jason swallowed. So, apparently Superman had been caught by the evil bald man and his lackeys. And, according to Granny, it was surely because of Kryptonite. But Kryptonite didn't affect him, and he was supposed to hide it. Slowly, he shook his head. "I wanna get out of here. This place makes me sick."

The man gave him a cold smile. "Mr. Luthor will be pleased to hear it, kid. And now, tuck in, or you'll be feeling even sicker, I guarantee you that!" He crackled his knuckled menacingly. "Mr. Luthor wants you to live – for the time being. With a low level of Kryptonite-poisoning, you might live for several weeks. Enjoy the rest of your life, and play a lot with your lovely toys." He gave the child one more evil grin, then stepped outside and locked the door.

After his footsteps had died away, Jason turned to Martha. "Did I do well, Granny?"

She pulled him into her arms. "Very well, Jason. You deserve an Oscar."

"Who's Oscar?"

"Never mind. Your father would be proud of you."

"My father…" Jason whispered into Martha's shoulder, and - despite the fact that he was afraid of what awaited them in this evil, evil house - he couldn't help but grin. "_Superman_."

o O o

Richard awoke with a horrible headache, finding himself surrounded by various empty bottles. For a minute he didn't even realise what had happened, just looked around with bleary eyes, wondering why he was still in bed at eleven o'clock, why his head was hurting so much, and why there were bottles scattered on the floor.

Then his eyes fell upon a toy car that Jason must have left on the living room floor, and it hit him: the child had been kidnapped. Because of bloody Superman. And just to think that Lois didn't even know her son had gone missing… or did she?

With shaking hands, he dialled Lois's number, and this time the phone rang, without giving him the message that she wasn't available. "Come on, Lois, answer it!"

o O o

Lois and Clark were huddled together on the floor of the helicopter that was carrying them to their doom. They didn't speak a word during the journey, but Lois was aware that he was in pain, no matter how valiantly he was pretending to show that he wasn't.

On the seats around them, people were sitting, wearing Kryptonite-necklaces and pointing guns at them. They occasionally sent them evil grins, but Lois did everything in her power to ignore them, and she wasn't even sure whether Clark had noticed them at all. He seemed to be in a trance, being neither conscious nor unconscious.

She squeezed his hand, wondering if she'd get any reaction from him, but he didn't budge. His eyes didn't even flicker; he kept staring at the floor.

Suddenly her mobile phone rang, but not even that shook Clark out of his trance.

"Give it here," one of Luthor's gorillas growled at Lois. She wordlessly slipped the phone out of her pocket and into the man's hand, thinking bitterly that he'd just robbed them of their last chance to get help.

"Hmm… Richard," the muscleman read out the name on the cell phone's screen. "Your husband, isn't he? Tsk, tsk, you left the good old hubby and cheated on him with the Boy Scout here…"

"Don't insult the lady," Clark said, his eyes still fixed on the floor.

Lois was surprised that he had apparently registered everything happening around him.

"Lady, eh?" the man who'd taken Lois's phone laughed. "I'd say Tramp. Hey, I've just invented a joke! Lady and the Tramp! Hey, guys, anyone seen that movie? Wasn't it darn cute when…?"

The others just stared at him with incredulous faces.

The man holding the cell phone waved. "You don't have a sense for humour. Nor an appreciation for the art of Disney." With that, he opened the window and chucked the mobile phone out of the chopper. "Bye-bye, Richard… Give up on your lovely wife… After all, she's long given up on you for Mr. Fabulous…"

"I said don't insult the lady," Clark grunted, finally diverting his glance from the floor and meeting the gorilla's eyes.

"Or what, Superboy? Are you going to beat me?" the man taunted.

Lois felt Clark tense, and she grabbed his arm. "Don't."

He shook his head. "Don't worry. I'm not letting them provoke me into anything."

"Yet," a cold voice spoke up, and Clark looked up to see Luthor staring down at him. There was something in the man's ruthless smile that made his stomach clench. This was the kind of man who'd sell his own mother. If he hadn't done so already…

o O o

Jason and Martha spent the rest of the day talking. He wanted to know everything about Superman, and who better to ask than the hero's mother? Martha eagerly told the boy everything about Clark's childhood, about his developing powers and the reason why he had to hide them.

"But he hid his real self from Mommy too," Jason said after a while. "Why, if he loved her?"

"To keep her safe."

"Oh. And did Mommy ever suspect that Mr. Clark was Superman?"

"Once she found out, but Clark had to make her forget that she knew about his true identity."

"But did Mommy know that Superman was my daddy? I mean my… _father_?"

"Yes, honey, she knew."

"But Daddy… he doesn't know, does he?"

The old woman shook her head. "No, Jason. He thinks he is your biological father."

The child frowned. "But then Mommy lied to Daddy!"

"She only did it to protect you."

"So, everyone did everything to protect someone. That's weird…"

"It's not at all weird, dear. It's what love is about. You want to protect those you love."

"I want to protect Mommy and Daddy. And Father. And you too, Granny. Can I protect you? I'm strong!"

Martha laughed and pulled the child into her arms. "Of course you're strong, honey."

"Am I going to be as strong as Father?"

"I don't know, Jason."

"I want to. If I were as strong as him and even learned to fly, then we could go saving people together. You know, like the Incredibles. Though, Father is much cooler than Mr. Incredible… Mr. Incredible got fat and didn't fit into his suit. Father never got fat, did he?"

"No, dear," Martha chuckled, but the smile disappeared from her face as she heard steps approaching.

"It's that ugly man who brought us the sandwiches," Jason said before even the door opened.

"You two, move!" the man barked at them.

Martha gently pulled the child off the carpet and they followed Luthor's gorilla out of the room, down a corridor.

"This house is huge," Jason remarked.

"Shut up, kid," the man grunted at them, pointing his gun at the child.

Swallowing, Jason decided to obey and shut up. Besides, he was supposed to pretend he wasn't feeling all right. According to Grandma, it could come in handy if they had leverage over their kidnappers. Whatever the word 'leverage' meant…

They passed through a corridor that was decorated with all kinds of objects carved of Kryptonite, and entered a hall, one wall of which was completely made of glass. Beyond the glass wall, there was a helipad with a helicopter that had just landed.

The first person to get out of the chopper was 'the evil bald man' who had shown Jason and his mother the green and the see-through crystals on the ship. Mr. Luthor, Jason reminded himself. Luthor offered his arm to another familiar figure – the woman named Kitty. Jason remembered her name, although he'd only heard it once. The woman was holding a small dog with reddish fur, just like on the boat.

The couple entered the house, and Luthor gave the child a would-be charming smile. "Well, well, well, what have we here?"

"Are you a Star Wars fan too, Mr. Luthor?" Jason asked.

"What?" The bald man frowned.

"Just that line… that's what Lando Calrissian…"

"I'm not interested in Star Wars, kid." Luthor waved with a cold smile. "And neither should you, because I have something much more interesting here for you."

"Mommy and Superman," Jason whispered, focusing on the helicopter.

Luthor whirled around to see that neither Lane nor Kent had got out of the chopper yet. "How did you know, kid?" he asked, his dark eyes scrutinizing the child's features. "Do you see through brick walls and machines?"

Jason felt Martha's hand gently squeeze his shoulder. "No, Mr. Luthor. I just heard from your men that they were coming…"

An indescribable expression flashed across Luthor's face – relief, perhaps? He waved at his thugs who were waiting for his instructions outside, and they dragged two people out of the chopper.

Jason was taken aback by the sight of Superman. Not that he hadn't seen the hero battered-looking before, but it was once again shocking to see someone that strong looking so weak. Jason's mother was supporting his father into the building, while Luthor's gorillas were pointing weapons at them.

As they spotted the child, they stopped in their stride. "Hi, Jason, honey," his mother said.

"Mommy!" The little boy wanted to run to her, but the gorilla with the big gun stopped him.

"Hello… Jason," Superman said, his glance shifting to the old woman standing behind Jason. "Mom…?"

Jason saw the shock on Superman's face at seeing his mother here. Apparently he hadn't expected Luthor to kidnap her too.

"Son…" Martha said in wavering voice.

"Lovely family reunion, isn't it?" Luthor spoke up, pretending to wipe an imaginary drop of tear from the corner of his eye. "Mother, father, son and granny, all together… How touching."

"What… what are you talking about?" Superman glowered at Luthor.

The bald man looked at him with a surprised expression, then began laughing. "You didn't know? You _don't_ know! Lane never told you? Everyone knows but you don't! That's hysterical!"

"Lois, what…?" Superman turned to Jason's mother, then slowly to the child. "_Jason_?"

The child sent him an encouraging smile. "Hello, Da… Father. Is that okay with you if I call you Father and not Daddy? I already call Daddy 'Daddy'. I can only call you 'Father'."

Jason honestly didn't understand why Superman's jaw dropped. But he looked quite funny that way.

o O o

**A/N: since my last update, I've uploaded the promised 'Superman Christmas gift' to my deviantart account. You can view it by either visiting my devart page, or simply clicking the relevant link ('Clark as Santa Claus') in my ffnet profile.**

**Again, Merry Christmas, and review, please!**


	9. The Fall of a Hero

**A/N: since I haven't updated in 2007 yet: Happy New Year, everyone:)**

**Again, I'm not sure whose review (on chapter 8) I've replied to and whose I haven't, so… thanks to: _Alphie, bluecatdevil, Jedi X-man Serena Kenobi, atlantiandragoness, Rongo, G.A. Clive, blightedmetal, septempopuli, mistressbabette51, Saavikam77, sg07, The Kiss of Death, rajen48, Catherine, dragon-warlord_**

**Chapter 9**

**The Fall of a Hero**

Clark couldn't help gaping at the child who had just called him 'father'. Little Jason was staring at him, his huge, blue eyes radiating warmth and a bit of anxiety.

So, Clark thought, that's why Lois had been so reluctant to talk about his sexual life… Because it had been _her_ he'd been involved with. That's why she'd looked so embarrassed when he'd questioned her about this particular topic… that's why she'd looked uneasy whenever she talked about their 'friendship'. And that's how Jason had managed to throw a piano. Now he understood why Lois had been so upset when he'd mentioned telling Richard about the piano-incident.

Clark swallowed the lump in his throat and looked at the woman. "So we've been 'just friends', Lois?"

She seemed to cringe under his penetrating glance. "I… I'm sorry, Clark. You didn't remember a thing, and I didn't want to burden you with…"

"Burden me with _my child_?" he asked simply, but there was more pain and accusation in his voice than she could bear.

"Don't you dare blame me," she hissed, completely forgetting about the fact that they weren't alone. "You left for five years, and I was alone, pregnant, and desperate, and it's me, and only me who has a right to accuse you of anything!"

Clark blinked, for a moment forgetting about the 'spectators' around, and even about the fatigue he felt due to the Kryptonite. "Heavens, Lois…" he croaked, "if I had known…"

Tears welled up in her eyes. "But you didn't know."

"Why did you leave Mommy alone?" Jason spoke up. "And how does someone get pregnant?"

"Shush, Jason," Martha said gently.

"No, no, don't shut the kid up," Luthor spoke up, his voice dripping with malice. "Let him know everything. Your father, kid, used to be your mother's lover. Do you know what 'lover' means?"

Jason shook his head.

"It means-"

"Stop it, Luthor," Lois hissed. "He's just five, he wouldn't understand."

"Oh, what wouldn't he understand?" Luthor smiled cruelly. "That his _father_ kissed and touched you in ways that his _daddy_ does? That his mother is a whore who apparently fled into poor Richard White's arms as soon as her idol Superman left? That his father had only wanted his mother until she bedded him?"

"That's not true!" Clark snapped, then fell silent, as if surprised by his own outburst. He glanced at Lois. "Is it?"

"I hope it isn't," she replied.

"What is a whore?" Jason enquired.

Luthor opened his mouth to answer, but Clark, despite his weakness, stepped closer to him with a menacing look. "Don't you dare. Leave Jason out of this. Lois and my mother too. It's me you want, isn't it?"

The bald man treated his captive to a cold smile. "More or less, yes. But see, as long as I have them in my power, I can make you do things… Blackmail has always been the best weapon in my evilness-arsenal. There's nothing you cannot reach with blackmail. Besides, it's not true that you're the only one I want. Earlier I only wanted to kill Superman. But now, I want to kill _both Supermen_. You, and the kid."

Jason sucked in his breath and his grandmother closed him in her arms from behind.

Clark glanced at Lois, who was as white as a sheet, and for the first time in his life, he too realised what it meant to be a parent. His heart filled with worry for his son, even though he'd only known him to be his son for a couple of minutes. He didn't even remember his relationship with Lois, but he did remember the strange feelings that the woman had started to wake in him in the past few days. Could it mean he was falling in love with her – again? After all, he must have loved her before… Even though he didn't remember his past, he was sure he wasn't the type to seduce a woman then dump her. It just felt wrong. Then again, unwittingly getting Lois pregnant and leaving her felt equally wrong. What that poor woman must have gone through because of him!

"Let Jason live," he told his captor, his voice almost beseeching. "Do with me whatever you want, but let him live."

Luthor presented him with an almost fatherly smile. "All right, Superman. I give you all a sporting chance. As long as _you_ live, the kid lives. And I'm telling you, it won't be easy. Day after day you will more and more yearn for death, but if you want your son to live, you will have to keep going… no matter how much you're suffering. And you _will be_ suffering, Superman, I guarantee you that."

Slowly, Clark nodded. "What about Lois and my mother?"

The bald man shrugged. "Our bargain doesn't concern them. They are going to be used for our… entertainment."

Clark stiffened, and his eyes widened with horror. Surely this horrible man wasn't meaning that…?

"Don't worry, Superman," Luthor said with a sneer. "I didn't mean it that way. None of my men would want an old spinster or a slut dirtied by an alien's touch. But why am I explaining things here? Come, see for yourself." He waved at his men who grabbed Clark, Lois, Martha and Jason and began pushing them towards a double-winged door that was decorated with chips of Kryptonite arranged into flower patterns.

"Lovely, isn't it?" Luthor asked his 'guests' as one of his gorillas opened the door and the others tossed the captives inside. Luthor and Kitty were the last ones to enter.

At first the room was completely dark, but as the lights were switched on, Clark realised in the blink of an eye that they were in a huge room that strangely resembled a gym. It was full of wall-bars, climbing ropes, high bars and various kinds of objects one uses in a P.E. lesson. The only exception was that almost everything in here was embedded with, covered by or made of Kryptonite.

Clark had been happy that so far he'd managed to fight the green crystal's detrimental effects with only stumbling here and there a bit, but as soon as he entered the gym where possibly everything was made of Kryptonite, he felt his stomach lurch. The next moment he was on all fours, retching. Since he hadn't eaten anything for almost a day, all that came up was bile.

_Jason_, he thought desperately, glancing at the little boy, who was looking at him with a scared expression. As blue eyes met blue eyes, the little boy shuddered as though awoken from a trance, and began to gasp for breath. "Mommy, Mommy, I… can't…"

"Jason!" Lois, forgetting about the violently sick Superman, ran to her son. "Are you all right, honey?"

Jason shook his head.

"Get him out of here!" Lois shouted. "This room is killing him, don't you see?"

Luthor stared down at the woman. "He's going to die sooner or later, Miss Lane. But all right, let me show you my merciful side." He glanced at two of his henchmen. "Take the boy to his room. What's going to happen here isn't something a child should see, anyway."

Clark, his chest heaving, watched as the gorillas guided his son out of the room. As soon as the double-winged door clicked shut, Luthor turned back to him. "Well, then, Superman, let the fun begin."

o O o

In his room, Jason dropped himself on the bed and panted heavily until the musclemen left him alone. As the door closed behind them, he sat up. This was the first time he'd faked an asthma attack. It wasn't even that hard. He felt a little embarrassed about it, though. It was lying, after all, and Mommy had always taught him not to lie. But Granny had told him it was essential that he keep it a secret that the evil green crystal wasn't affecting him. Or was it?

Jason sat on the bed, thinking. Three kinds of emotions were churning in his soul – one of them was guilt over having faked sickness. The second one was worry about Mr. Clark. _Father_, he corrected himself. The third feeling was surprise. Although he didn't understand much about genetics, he assumed that being Superman's son, he was supposed to be feeling sick when there was Kryptonite in the vicinity. But he wasn't. Actually, he was feeling perfectly healthy. Healthier than ever before. That short visit to the gym had somehow energized him. He felt he was practically bursting with energy, and if he wanted, he could make the wall of his room tumble by a single kick. But he was wary of trying it. What if it didn't work? Besides, Granny had told him to keep the fact that his abilities were unaffected, a secret. And if he made sizable holes in the brick wall, it would no longer be a secret.

So, suppressing his energies, he leaned back on the bed, and stared into the darkness. Funnily, the darkness wasn't even dark. Yes, the sun had set outside and the room was fairly dark with the lights switched off, but Jason saw everything just all right. Not only the silhouettes of the various pieces of furniture, but even the tiny Kryptonite-toys on the shelves. He saw everything in great detail. With a sudden thought, he turned on his side and focused on a certain double-winged door on the other end of the corridor. He saw through the walls and the double-winged door without even trying. And in that moment he wished he hadn't. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he forced himself to look away. "Father…" he whispered as the tears found their way down his cheek.

Sniffing, he rolled onto his back, defiantly staring up at the ceiling and seeing the starry sky above. "Dear God," he whispered, "I haven't asked many things of you yet, but just this once, I have to. Don't let Father die. Please."

o O o

"Well, Superman, can you guess what my wonderful interior decorators have built for you?" Lex asked in a derisive tone that made Kitty shudder.

Superman, who was still on all fours, looked up at his captor. "A gym, obviously," he said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, very perceptive, a gym, indeed," said Lex with a cruel smile. "A gym, just for you. We have seen amazing acrobatics from you, Superman, and we've become your fans. We're dying to see some of your wonderful stunts again, so, will you entertain us a bit? Do it for us, o everyone's idol!" He clasped his hands in a mockery of praying. "And if not for us, then do it for Miss Lane and Mrs. Kent, who are both going to suffer if you fail to satisfy your admirers."

Kitty saw Superman's eyes flash with anger and she felt a shiver run down her spine.

"All right," Superman said, and even though it took him great effort, he stood up. "What shall I do?"

"Clark, no!" Martha and Lois said in unison, as if they had been reading each other's mind. But probably they had both just listened to their heart and their heart had whispered them the same thing: that Superman would die if he agreed to this madness. Both women loved him; that much was clear for Kitty. And she had to admit it to herself that she could fully understand them.

"Clark no, or Clark yes?" Lex asked, folding his arms. "What do you say, Clark? They are in your hands. You can go through this _little _series of obstacles and get a little bruised… or you can refuse… but then I can assure you that your mother and lover will have the same amount of bruises that you would have gotten if you'd volunteered to exhibit your _unearthly talents_. Choose."

"Clark…" Martha whimpered, wringing her hands.

Superman sent the two most important women in his life a gentle smile. A smile that made Kitty wonder how someone who was suffering so much could look so peaceful. Even as weak as he was, he looked regal. His eyes sending a silent 'don't worry about me' to Lois and his mother, he began walking towards wall-bars. His steps were shaky, as all objects in the gym were emanating a deadly radiation, but they seemed deliberate.

Kitty thought she'd heard him suck in his breath as his hands made contact with the Kryptonite bars of the wall-bars. He squeezed his eyes shut, gritted his teeth, and began to climb.

His strength evaporated in seconds, so the climb took him at least two minutes. By the time he reached the top of the wall-bars, his palms were covered with blisters and Kitty even saw droplets of blood running down his fingers and soaking the floor beneath him. When Superman reached the top and stepped onto the high bar that ran parallel to the floor at an altitude of nine feet, Kitty realised that he wasn't the only one in the room bleeding. She had dug her fingernails into her palms so hard that they started to bleed.

She cast a sideways glance at Lois to see tears glistening in her eyes, and Kitty felt that she herself was close to weeping. But she held her tears at bay. She'd cried for him once before when Lex and his thugs had beaten him up on New Krypton. She didn't want to cry for him again. He was a superhero, after all. A superhero, who, even in great pain, managed to look confident.

Now he was balancing on the high bar, taking shaky steps forward. The high bar was a really nasty idea of Lex's, Kitty decided. Superman couldn't even walk properly on solid ground, let alone on a thin piece of rod! And if he fell, his ability to fly wouldn't be there to help him. At the moment he was completely deprived of his powers, and weaker than any mortal. At the moment he, too, looked mortal… a mortal, who still gave the impression of a deity. Even with his contorted-with-pain expression, he was beautiful. Kitty was so mesmerised by staring at him that at first she didn't even realise what happened.

In the blink of an eye, the deity-turned-mortal lost balance and fell. In his fall he crushed into the bar itself that grazed his chest, tearing his shirt, then he ended up on the floor, unconscious.

Lois and Martha hurried to him, and Lex's men didn't even try to hold them back.

"Well, well, well, Superman," Lex said coldly, "this wasn't your best performance. Perhaps next time you'll do better." He turned to his gorillas. "Take him to his room."

"May I go with him?" Martha asked, though Kitty could tell that the old woman wasn't really hoping for a positive reply.

"You're getting your own little cell, Mrs. Kent," Lex said. "And Miss Lane too. Be thankful for them, both of you. What you're getting is much better than what _he_'s getting."

Kitty gulped. She was aware what kind of 'room' awaited Superman. Edmond Dantes' cell in the Chateu d'If was a luxury apartment compared to that.

Feeling that her mouth had gone as dry as a parchment, she watched as two of Lex's men carried Superman out of the gym. The fact that the two men were puffing loudly and their faces had turned red with the effort of carrying the tall and muscled invalid, made a little smile appear on Kitty's face. She just hoped they wouldn't drop the poor man. One fall a day was enough for him.

Kitty's eyes met Martha's, and she had the impression that Martha was scrutinising her in a curious way, as if those old eyes were asking her silently 'what is a compassionate girl like you doing with a man like Luthor?' And in all honesty, Kitty no longer knew the answer.

o O o

After a few minutes of not looking, Jason chanced another glance at Superman's struggle. The man was teetering on a thin rod, his arms stretched out to both sides to help him keep his balance. Blood was constantly dripping from his palms and his face was a mask of sheer torment. He'd only seen such suffering in movies, and not even in many movies, because his mother never let him watch anything that might be dangerous to his emotional development. Now, as he watched his father, he couldn't help thinking that his father's expression was a lot like Luke Skywalker's at the end of Return of the Jedi, when Emperor Palpatine was trying to fry him with the lightning bolts. Jason was a true Star Wars fan, but he had always hated that particular scene, because it was so scary.

Then it happened. Superman slipped and fell.

"Father!" Jason gasped, and before he knew what he was doing, before he'd remembered that he was looking at the 'torture chamber scene' through several brick walls, he'd jumped up from the bed and ran at the wall.

"Ouch…" he whimpered, massaging his nose and looking around. What happened? Apparently, he was lying on the floor, and there was a sizeable dent in the brick wall. Had he done it? "I'm in trouble…" he muttered, then remembered that his father was in much bigger trouble. He quickly looked back in the direction of the gym to see the developments. Two people were lifting Superman with great difficulty, and Superman looked as though he'd fainted. With Jason's enhanced vision, he felt as if he were there, next to the unconscious man and could almost touch him…

"Father…" he whispered, but his hands only grasped thin air. Sniffing, he looked around. He needed to find something to hide the dent in the wall. There was a smaller wardrobe in a corner. Jason examined the wardrobe. Could he do it? So far his strength had only manifested when he'd been upset.

_Okay, Jason, you're Superman's son. You can do it_, he told himself and gently pushed the wardrobe.

o O o

Clark thought that his head had never hurt so much. Groaning, he rubbed his forehead, willing the pain to go away, but it just wouldn't.

"Don't move," a female voice said.

Clark opened his eyes to see a dark-haired woman smiling down at him. He looked around and established that he was in a dark room illuminated by one single candle, and that he was lying on a thin and uncomfortable object that might easily have been a sack of straw.

Frowning, he looked down on his body to see that his shirt was open.

"Don't move your head," the woman repeated. "You fell and hit it badly." She realised what he was looking at. "You got a nasty wound on your chest too."

"And you put some kind of ointment on it," he observed.

"Don't worry, as soon as it dries, it won't be noticeable," she replied. "It won't smell either, so Lex won't find out."

He lifted his hands and looked at his palms. They were all blistered, but glistened with the same ointment she had applied to his chest. Knitting his eyebrows, he looked into her eyes. "Why, Katherine?"

She nearly dropped the tiny bottle she was holding. "You… know my name?"

"Yeah, you told me when I saved you from the car that…" his voice trailed off. "Heavens… I remember."

o O o

**A/N: push that little lilac button and submit a review! _You know you want to_… ;)**


	10. Past the Point of No Return

**A/N: this chapter contains a few lines that are strong T-rated. Not M, but strong T. You've been warned.**

**Thanks for the reviews on chapter 9 to: _mary-v, htbthomas, Alphie, StealerOfDreams, septempopuli, atlantiandragoness, XJaxX, Divamercury, Nightlyeclipse, MsSupaFan, blightedmetal, Li22i096, G.A. Clive, LegendLover, The Kiss of Death, mistressbabette51, Gisela_**

**Chapter 10**

**Past the Point of No Return**

"You remember?" Kitty echoed Clark's words.

He silently nodded. "I… I lost my memories when I hit my head a week ago. Now I hit it again… and my memories returned." His eyes widened and he instinctively grasped the woman's hand. "How's Jason? He was looking very sick when he was taken out of the gym!"

"Don't worry, he's fine."

"Are you sure? Did you see him? Is he breathing all right?"

"I met Ross, the guy who took him his dinner," Kitty replied. "He said he just tossed the sandwich on the table in the dark but he'd heard the kid snoring gently and didn't want to wake him. Ross's a bit of a softie, if you ask me."

"Thank heaven," the man heaved a relieved sigh.

"Um… Clark?"

"Yes?"

"Would you release my hand? Kryptonite-poisoning or not, your grasp is still a bit too strong."

"Oh, sorry…" He let go of her hand, blushing in the candlelight. "I didn't mean to hurt you… I was just so worried about him…" He swallowed hard. "I still can't believe he's my son. I mean… of course I _believe_ it… it's just… too much to take. I never knew... My gosh, what could Lois be thinking of me now?"

"I'm sure she's worried about you."

"Worried? More like mad, and with a good reason," he sighed, looking away from Kitty, focusing his eyes on the bare brick walls in which he was sure there were chunks of Kryptonite hidden, but in much smaller amounts than in the gym. Just enough to keep him weak and deprived of his super-powers, but not enough to kill him. "I… I left her in trouble, Katherine. I just… don't know how to cope with this… In my whole life, I strived to do the right thing… in everything. But I failed miserably. And because of me, now Lois, my mother and my son are all in danger. I wish I hadn't come back… No. I wish I hadn't _left_ in the first place. Then I could have been there for Luthor's trial and…" He let out a small, cold laugh. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this. You're Luthor's girlfriend."

"I am. But that doesn't mean I agree with him on everything."

He took her hand again. "I thought as much. You're a good person, Katherine."

She shook her head. "I'm not good, Clark. I'm just… feeling guilty."

He smiled at her. "I don't think you're doing this to ease your pangs of remorse."

"Then?"

"I saw you crying on New Krypton, Katherine. I was being kicked around by Luthor's gorillas, but… I couldn't help noticing your tears. Those were not tears of guilt… but tears of compassion."

Kitty looked away, not daring to meet his eyes.

"Can I ask you a little favour, Katherine?"

"It depends," she said.

"Can you tell Lois and my mother that I remember everything? Can you tell them in a way that Luthor and his men don't find out?"

"Why do you trust me of all people with something like this, Clark?" Kitty looked surprised, even touched.

"I don't know. I just do."

"All right. I think I can do this for you."

"Thank you, Katherine. And if you can, tell Lois that I'm… sorry. For all the suffering I caused her. Will you tell her?"

She squeezed his hand. "I will, Clark."

With that, she stood up, hid the flask of ointment in her pocket, then picked up the candle and blew it out. Clark heard the door open and close, a key turn in the lock, and he was left alone with his thoughts.

Lying on his back, he stared into the darkness, for the first time in several years not being able to see anything. His special vision, like all of his talents, was suppressed by the Kryptonite-filled walls. The pain caused by the presence of the green crystal wasn't as agonising as it was in the gym, but it was still there. A dull throbbing in his whole body. _Poor Jason_, he thought dejectedly. _So young and having to suffer just as much as I am_… At the thought of his son suffering from Kryptonite, he felt something cold touch his ears. He realised it was tears running down his cheeks, across his ears, onto the raw sack that functioned as his bed. He didn't remember the last time he'd cried.

Sniffing, he blinked back the tears that had just welled up in his eyes, but he couldn't do anything about the pain compressing his chest. It was worse than the physical pain he'd felt in the gym, and he knew it was a pain that no doctor, not even the healing sunrays could do anything about. It was guilt, and it was suffocating him. _This is what a Dementor's presence must have felt to Harry_, he thought bitterly, remembering one of his favourite books. _As if I'd never feel happy again. And perhaps I never will. Even if I survive Luthor's torture and manage to save my family somehow… I still can't make up for the sins of the past…_

Strangely, thinking of Lois and Jason as his family filled him with a so far unknown warmth. But it was short-lived. _They belong to Richard. It's Richard who built them a proper life, it's him who supported Lois when I wasn't around, and it's him who was Jason's father instead of me. I have no right to either Lois or Jason. Richard does. They deserve to have a proper family life without me ruining it. And if I survive this ordeal, I'll do everything I can to make sure they become… or **remain** a family. _He gulped. He knew it was the right thing to do, to give up on them to keep them safe and happy. But it hurt. Terribly.

o O o

Lois couldn't fall asleep. Her heart was too full of fear for her son and Clark, and too full of frustration over not being able to do anything to help them. By New Krypton, she could save Clark, simply diving into the water and pulling him up, but now… she was completely helpless. Hers, Jason's and Martha's life depended on Clark's, and Clark's depended on Luthor.

She found that she wasn't a bit scared for her own safety, nor for Martha's, as they weren't exposed to Kryptonite-poisoning, but the boys were. She allowed herself a small smile at thinking of Clark and Jason as 'the boys'. Then she remembered that earlier she'd used to think of Jason and _Richard _as 'the boys'. How come Clark had taken over Richard's place so easily in her heart? Or perhaps… it had been Richard who had usurped Clark's place in her heart and now that its rightful owner was back, Richard was no more than… than _a what_? – She wondered.

Shaking her head, she berated herself for being so selfish and so ready to forget all those wonderful years she'd spent with her fiancé. He deserved better than that… She couldn't leave him… But could she stay with him out of gratefulness? She loved him, yes, but more as a friend than as a future husband. He was her anchor, a warm haven she could return to after a rough time on the sea, but… what if the 'rough sea', _Clark_, felt much more alluring than the warm haven?

She bent her head on her knees and squeezed her eyes shut against the tears that wanted to escape. For minutes she just listened to the silence. Suddenly, she heard the door of her room open. She looked up, but saw absolutely nothing in the darkness. For a second it crossed her mind that one of Luthor's goons had decided to disobey his employer and was here to rape her. The door closed behind the unknown visitor, and Lois's heart began to race. There was no denying it, fearless reporter Lois Lane was afraid.

"It's me, Kitty," a female voice whispered. There was a soft sound of a match being lit, and in the next instant Lois saw Luthor's girlfriend in the light of one single candle.

"Kitty?" she whispered back. "What are you doing here?"

"Bringing news from Clark."

"Is he awake?" Lois felt her insides fill with hope and excitement.

"Yes, he's awake," replied the other woman. "He's regained his memories."

"WHAT?" Lois gasped, a bit too loud.

"Shhhh!" Kitty said, holding her index-finger to her lips. "Yes, he remembers everything. The fall… he hit his head and it brought his memories back. He asked me to tell you that he's sorry."

"Sorry, for what?"

"Well, leaving you pregnant and stuff like that…" came the vague answer. "He looked awfully guilty. You'd think he was suffering much more because of his pangs of remorse than because of his wounds."

"His wounds… oh my gosh… I forgot. How's he doing?"

"More or less okay. There isn't much Kryptonite in his room, because Lex wants to make sure he gathers a little strength over the night so that…"

"So that he can continue torturing him the next day," Lois finished the sentence with a sinking feeling in her stomach. It was wonderful to know that Clark finally remembered his past, but she didn't want him to suffer because of it. She knew she was _supposed to_ feel some malicious joy now that he was finally 'paying' for his mistake of leaving her and wiping her memories, but she couldn't find it in her heart to rejoice over his misery.

"Yeah…" Kitty sighed. "Well, I've gotta go now. I'll tell Clark's mother too that he remembers. Shall I tell Jason too?"

"Jason? Oh, Jason!" Lois breathed. In her excitement over Clark's restored memories, she'd forgotten about her son. She felt ashamed. For the past five years Jason had always come first, and he was always supposed to come first. "How's my son, Kitty, do you know?"

"He's fine, don't worry." The other woman's voice was soothing and almost friendly. "Clark too asked me about the boy's health… actually, that was the first thing he asked after he regained his memories. He loves that little boy a lot."

Lois bit into her lower lip. "He doesn't even know Jason."

"But he knows the boy is his. And tell you what, I think he'd love the boy even if he wasn't the father. Clark is a good man. The most selfless man I've ever known."

_Yes, isn't he?_ Lois thought sourly. _He'd given up his chance to be happy with me, to be able to remain everyone's saviour. But then, he left Earth just like that, and left not only me and our child, but also six billion others in the lurch, just because he needed some soul-searching_. She felt anger surge up in her, but it was gone as soon as it had come. _Do I have a right to judge him? And did **he** have the right to decide for me and take my memories without my consent? _She wanted to be mad at him, to blame him, but found that she couldn't._ Heck, he only did what he thought would spare me the suffering! Even the road to hell is paved with good intentions…_ "Yes, Kitty. He's really the most selfless man I've ever known."

"You love him, don't you?"

Lois wanted to say that she didn't know, as a few days ago she still hadn't been sure about her feelings for Clark, but now… there was no point in denying it. "I do."

Kitty smiled sadly. "I thought so. He's really cute. More than cute… _extremely handsome_ is a more proper phrase… But you know what? I think it's not his perfect face or amazing muscles that's the loveliest about him."

Lois was surprised to hear Lex Luthor's girlfriend talk about Superman as 'lovely'. "Er… what, then?"

"It's his inner strength," Kitty said with the air of a much wiser woman than she appeared to be. "I saw it. On New Krypton, and in the gym today… He has an overwhelming personality. He can talk so reassuringly, even when he's horribly upset. It's… I don't know… _magical_."

"When did you talk to him in private?"

The other woman gave her an awkward smile. "When I visited him in his room, just a few minutes ago. I treated his wounds. Of course Lex and his gorillas have no idea…"

Lois's eyes widened. "You treated his wounds?"

Kitty shrugged. "I couldn't leave him bleeding through the night, could I?" An embarrassed expression flashed across her face. "I really have to go now. Good night, Lois."

"Wait!"

Kitty turned back. "Yes?"

"Could you… could you somehow… take me to visit him?"

The other woman shook her head. "I don't think so. But… we'll see. I promise I'll try at least."

Lois nodded. "Thank you, Kitty."

"For what?"

"For giving me his message."

Kitty sent her a sad smile. "I didn't do it for you." With that, she blew out the candle, leaving Lois alone in her room.

o O o

Jason was awakened by one of Luthor's thugs. "Here's your breakfast, kid. Haven't you eaten your dinner?"

Jason rubbed his eyes, yawning. "Why, did you bring me dinner?" His glance fell upon the table where he saw a plate with a sandwich and a glass of water. "Oh. Sorry. I didn't realise. I must've fallen asleep."

"You'd better eat both sandwiches," the man grunted. "If Mr. Luthor finds out you're not eating properly…"

"Is Mr. Luthor worried about me, Mr. Ross?" Jason asked innocently.

The man gave him a wry smile. "Hardly. But he doesn't want you to die as long as he can use you to torture Superman. Hey… you remembered my name?"

The child shrugged. "I have a very good memory. Mommy says I have a high IQ. Though, I don't know what IQ is. I guess it means I'm clever, but…"

The man was no longer paying him attention but was looking intently at the wardrobe. "Did this wardrobe used to be here? Wasn't it over there yesterday?" He pointed at a corner.

"Nooooo." Jason shook his head. "It always used to be here. I remember, I really have a very good memory."

The man gave him a suspicious stare that Jason answered with as innocent a smile as he could muster.

"Are you sure, kid?"

"Yeah…" Jason said with a cough. "Do you think… _cough_… I could move it… _cough… _on my own? I'm so weak, Mr. Ross!"

"Weak, eh?" The muscleman knitted his eyebrows. "Superman's son, weak. That must be the joke of the century."

Jason shrugged. "That green stuff… weakens me. Makes me queasy."

The man's eyes flashed. "You'd better not throw up the sandwich once you've eaten it. I don't feel like cleaning up after you like I had to after Superman yesterday."

"Mr. Ross, how's he doing?" The boy asked, knowing that he wasn't supposed to see the torture Superman had gone through. "What did they make him do?"

"None of your business, kid. He's alive, and no more questions. Eat that bloody sandwich!"

"No swearing, Mr. Ross! Mommy said it's rude to swear."

The man rolled his eyes. "You're horribly annoying, kid. Must've inherited that from good ol' Daddy."

"Not from Daddy, no." Jason shook his head. "Daddy isn't my bio…logic father. It's Superman."

Ross seemed ready to start banging his head into the wall. "I _was_ referring to Superman!"

"Then say 'Father' not 'Daddy'."

"You know what, kid? I think I'm going to ask for a pay-rise for putting up with you."

Jason frowned. "Was that an in… insult? I think that's the word. Mommy says it's not nice to insult people."

"Yes, and I will listen to a five-year-old."

"Was that another insult?"

"No, kid, that was irony."

"What's irony? Does it have something to do with iron?"

Ross waved and left the room, muttering something like 'No pay-rise is worth this.' He didn't stop muttering insults about Jason for another five minutes. And Jason was surprised that he heard every word of it, even when the man had reached the other end of the building.

o O o

The phone was ringing. Richard didn't know how long it had been ringing. Seconds? Minutes? Half an hour?

Groggily, he got out of the bed and staggered to the phone. "Richard White speakin'," he said, his tongue not yet fully working.

"Richard, it's your father-in-law," came a grumpy voice from the phone.

"Ah, Generaaaal," Richard yawned. "S'ry. Been sleepin'. By the way, you're not yet my father-in-law." _And if things keep going like this, you will never be_, he added in thought bitterly.

"Oh, forgive me for waking you _at eleven o'clock_, Sonny," Sam Lane's voice sounded sarcastic. "Would you give the phone to my daughter? I've been trying to reach her on her mobile phone for a day and she isn't responding."

"Oh… 'course, you don't know…" Richard sighed, dropping himself on the couch. His head was hurting horribly. He hadn't drunk alcohol last night like he had two nights before, but he was the type who couldn't hold his liquor, and on the very few occasions he got a hangover, it lasted for over a day. Besides, he'd taken a few sedative pills as well, because he had been sure that otherwise sleep would completely elude him. A hangover combined with the effect of sleeping pills had been enough to knock him out so hard that not even a whole jug of extra strong coffee would put him right.

"What don't I know?" the general snapped. "Call Lois to the phone this instant, Sonny!"

"Uh… listen, General… the problem is, I don't know where she is. I've been trying to reach her since Friday evening in vain. Her mobile phone is either shut off or she's someplace where she can't recharge it or where there's no reception, or… she lost it."

"What do you mean by you don't know where she is?"

Richard heaved a sigh. He never liked talking to Lois's father. Such an old, grumpy man who even insisted on being called 'General' instead of 'Sam' or 'Mr. Lane'… Ridiculous. "Look, General, the main problem isn't Lois here. She's with Superman, so she's supposed to be safe. Jason is the problem. He's gone missing."

"Missing? Jason? Lois with Superman? She's not still in love with that freak in blue tights, is she?"

_That freak in blue tights is the father of your favourite grandson…_

"I don't know, General," Richard said testily. "Jason was kidnapped from school on Friday. I wanted to contact Lois and tell her, but couldn't reach her."

"And you're not worried about her because she's with Mr. Wonderful, are you? Well, listen here, Sonny, in the past two days there's been an earthquake in Japan, a terror attack in Rome, a flood in India and a plane crash in Georgia, and Superman didn't show up to help anyone! Something's happened to the guy, and if my daughter is with him, then something happened to her too! And how dare you not call me when my grandson is kidnapped?"

"I'm sorry, General. I've been a bit… disoriented lately. The Police are on the case, and there's nothing we can do except pray that they find Jason and that Superman can take care of himself _and_ Lois. Good-bye, General." With that, Richard ended the call. The only thing he didn't like about the idea of marrying Lois was getting General Lane as his father-in-law. And, he had to admit it to himself that with every passing minute he felt less and less sure if _Lois_ still liked the idea of marrying him…

A sour smile appeared on his face. The general had been talking down to him ever since Lois had announced that she was engaged to him. Richard doubted if Sam Lane would ever approve of any man his daughter chose as her life-mate. Not even Superman himself stood a chance to be accepted by the general as his son-in-law. _Why am I even thinking of Superman being the general's son-in-law? I'm being silly again_. He sighed. _Or am I?_

"I don't know if you hear me, Superman, but you'd better keep Lois safe," he muttered, ignoring the ringing phone, suspecting that it must be Lois's dad again. Let the old man stew.

o O o

Jason spent the rest of the morning listening in on various conversations held in the villa, and at moments when no one was speaking, he entertained himself with listening to the chirping birds in the forest outside. He was amazed to realise that he could even hear the soft splashing of the nearby lake.

_It's super-hearing_, he established in himself. _Superman hears the cries for help, no matter who and where they're shouting. Am I going to be just like him? Will I be able to fly? That would be so cool! I have X-ray vision, super-hearing and I can lift anything I want_. He grinned down at the bed he was sitting on. He'd lifted it five times in the past ten minutes, just to see if he could. It was a bed whose frame was made of steel, but Jason had pushed it over his head as easily as though he'd been holding a feather.

For a while he looked through the wall, focusing on a squirrel climbing a nearby Douglas fir, but as soon as voices caught his ears, he turned his attention away from the reddish animal and focused on the room he'd heard the voices coming from. Undoubtedly, it was the gym.

Jason's stomach clenched as he watched two of Luthor's henchmen drag Superman into the gym, followed by another two, leading his mother and grandmother.

Luthor and his girlfriend with the cute doggie were already waiting for them in the gym. Jason had the impression that Luthor's girlfriend wasn't too happy about what she was witnessing. She looked pale, and there was something sad in her eyes. _She likes Father_, the boy perceived. _She feels sorry about him because the bald man is going to hurt him again… _

Jason swallowed the lump in his throat and decided to watch the scene. It had been horrible yesterday to see his father bleeding and in pain, but he was too curious to look away this time. Besides, his grandpa, General Lane, had told him that a real soldier wasn't afraid of facing anything, not even if it was scary. At age three, Jason had decided to become a general like Grandpa and had wanted to be one until a few days ago. Now he wanted to be Superman. It was so much cooler than being a general, wasn't it?

_Don't be afraid… Superman can't be afraid_, Jason told himself, and focused on the gym.

"Looking good, Superman," Luthor greeted his captive derisively. "Gathered some strength overnight? I hope so, because you will need it. The task is the same as yesterday – go through the obstacle course and amaze us. Amaze your charming lady friend and your loving mother. Amaze Kitty too, she admires you!"

Jason thought she'd seen the woman named Kitty flinch.

His father glanced at Kitty, who looked away, her cheeks colouring slightly.

"Clark, how are you doing?" Martha asked with a worried expression.

"Fine, Mom. I haven't broken yet." He sent the old woman an encouraging smile, then glanced at Lois. Jason didn't know much about the adults' complicated emotions, but even he could sense that there was something practically vibrating in the air between his parents. Then his father broke the eye contact and, somewhat shakily, began walking towards the wall-bars.

Jason clenched his tiny hands into fists as his father reached out towards the Kryptonite-covered bars.

"Clark!"

Jason saw his father turn around to see a desperate expression on Lois's face.

"I love you!"

A small smile appeared on Superman's face. "I know." With that, he turned back to the wall-bars and began climbing.

_I bet he saw Star Wars_, Jason thought amusedly, but his amusement didn't last long. In a few minutes his father was bleeding heavier than last time, and his face was just as contorted with pain as the previous day. But he kept going.

Jason found himself digging his fingernails into his palms (strangely his nails didn't leave the slightest indent on his skin), his lips moving silently. "Come on, Father, you can do it! Come oooon!"

Superman had made through the high bars without slipping and reached a tiny pool that he was supposed to swim across. By that time he was so exhausted that after a few strokes with his hands, he began to sink.

"He's drowning!" Jason screamed in his room.

"He's drowning!" Lois yelled. "Get him out!"

"Clark, hold out!" Martha shouted.

Luthor gave his men a wave. "Get him out. We don't want him to die. Yet."

Superman was fished out of the pool. "He isn't breathing," one of Luthor's thugs established.

Jason had always wondered why his mother was often referred to as 'Mad Dog Lane'. He'd never really seen her getting herself in trouble (besides going aboard _The Gertrude_ without invitation), but he'd heard that she'd been a fearless woman in her younger days, and also somewhat tomboyish, having been raised by General Lane who'd always wanted to have a son as his firstborn. Now, Jason finally understood why his mother was called 'Mad Dog Lane'.

Lois pushed three of Luthor's gorillas out of her way and stormed to the unconscious Superman. "Move aside!" she snapped at the two who had fished Jason's father out of the pool. Jason even saw the shock on the men's faces. His Mommy could be really fearsome… lucky that she never shouted at him, not even when he'd done something mischievous.

With bated breath, Jason watched as his Mommy bent and kissed Superman. Funnily, Jason didn't find it was a bad thing. He'd seen his mother kiss Superman in the hospital a week earlier. And Superman loved his Mommy. Was it wrong if his Mommy loved him back? Being a five-year-old, Jason wasn't aware that a woman wasn't supposed to be in love with two men at once, and that if his Mommy loved his Father, then she might not stay with his Daddy.

Then he realised that his mother wasn't _kissing_ Superman. She was trying to resuscitate him. Jason had seen how it's done in Baywatch.

In the gym no one spoke. With pale faces, Martha and Kitty watched Lois's attempts at reviving the young man. Luthor watched the scene with a small smile on his lips, while his men looked simply confused.

After about a minute, Superman began coughing.

_Wow, Mommy's as good as Pamela Anderson!_ Jason thought admiringly.

He saw his father send his mother a grateful glance (at least Jason assumed his father's glance was grateful), and he saw tears welling up in his mother's eyes. Why was his Mommy crying when Superman was alive? Weren't people only supposed to be crying when someone died?

Feeling slightly bewildered, he watched as two of the musclemen carried the heavily dripping Superman out of the gym.

"The show's over for today, ladies," Luthor said. "Hopefully he'll reach the other end of the pool tomorrow. It's kind of boring to see him stumbling, falling and drowning all the time…"

"The water's _green_," Jason heard his mother hiss at the bald man.

Luthor shrugged. "Just a little chemistry experiment, Miss Lane. Dissolved Kryptonite. I thought you would appreciate my creativity… well, apparently not." He gave the woman a nasty smirk. "Have a nice day, Miss Lane." He waved at his thugs who led both Jason's mother and grandmother back into their rooms. Jason followed them with his X-ray vision and saw that their rooms were more or less nice, about as well furnished as his own. But his father's room could barely be called a room. It was like a cell in a medieval fortress.

Jason shuddered as he saw two of Luthor's men drop Superman on the cold concrete floor. A shiver ran down Superman's body and Jason heard his teeth chatter. "He's going to catch a cold," the little boy muttered. "Give him dry clothes. He's cold, don't you see?"

Steps echoed on the corridor, shaking Jason back to reality.

The door of his room opened and Ross entered with his lunch. "I heard you talking, kid. Who were you talking to?"

Jason gulped. "My invisible friend?"

Ross rolled his eyes. "Invisible friend, of cooourse! Don't take me for a fool, kid. You were just playing, admit it."

The little boy nodded. "I was. So what? Mr. Ross, when can I visit my father? And when can Mommy or Granny visit me? I miss them. And I'm bored."

"That's why you have all those nice green toys," Ross sneered at him. "Don't you like 'em, kid?"

Jason glanced at the Kryptonite toys. Truth was that he liked them, although he preferred fluffy plushies instead of hard and cold figurines. "Not really. They hurt me when I touch them. Tell Mr. Luthor I want to see Mommy, Father and Granny!"

"As young Master White commands." Ross bowed with a mocking smile and left the room.

Jason wrinkled his nose. "That was irony. I think."

o O o

"Honestly, the greatest hero in the world, and he's much thicker than one would think…"

Clark looked up to see Kitty's face in the dim light provided by the candle. "Er… _cough…_ Katherine? What do you mean by…?"

The woman rolled her eyes. "I know you're in a bad shape, Clark, but surely you could have got out of your wet clothes on your own, couldn't you?"

"Uh… _cough…_ yeah, probably." The man blushed slightly.

"Let's get you out of these wet things, and then I'll treat your wounds. Here, I'll help you." She unbuttoned his shirt and began pulling it off of him. When her hands began fumbling with his belt, he froze.

"Katherine, just… leave that."

She rolled her eyes. "This is no time for modesty, Clark. You've already caught a cold. I expect you don't want to catch pneumonia?"

He shook his head.

"Good. Then off with those trousers!"

Reluctantly, Clark unbuckled his belt and Kitty helped him pull off the trousers.

"I'm going to put them in the dryer for the night. You'll get them back at dawn."

"At dawn? What time is it now?" He frowned up at her.

"Eleven p.m. You've been in wet clothes for almost twelve hours. A wonder you aren't running a fever already. Kryptonite or not, your body is still stronger than the average…" She absentmindedly ran a finger down his muscled chest, making his shudder.

He gently but deliberately swept her hand away. "Luthor or his men didn't see you, did they?"

Kitty shook her head, looking slightly disappointed at being denied the chance to touch him. She almost wished he had some smaller wound on his stomach that needed tending, because then she'd have a good excuse to make contact with his amazing abs. "Don't worry, they are in bed already, save for those two patrolling the corridors. But they didn't see me and I'll make sure they don't see me when I bring you your clothes back." She gave him a wink and unscrewed the flask that contained the ointment. This time she only needed to apply it to his palms and fingertips, as the rest of his body that had made contact with Kryptonite had been covered with at least a thin layer of fabric. "All right, done. And now, give me your boxers."

"My _what_?"

"Your boxers. They are just as wet as the rest of your clothes."

Clark turned as red as the setting sun.

"Honestly, Big Boy, I'm starting to wonder how you ever got to father that little guy, being as shy as you are…" She grinned at him. "Hey, I'll extinguish the light, and then you can take off your boxers. I can't see in the dark, I promise."

He let out a small, nervous laugh. "All right. I want you to know that I'm really… grateful for your… caring, Katherine. I don't know how to thank you for that."

She gave him a wry smile. "You saved my life once."

He shrugged. "I've saved thousands of others. It's routine for me. But for you… I doubt if going behind Luthor's back is routine. You're taking great risk by helping me. Why are you doing it, Katherine?"

She shook her head and blew out the candle. "Just give me those boxers."

o O o

Day after day passed, and Kitty felt worse and worse every day when Lex made them enter the gym and witness another pathetic failure of Superman's. Day after day Superman got further on the obstacle course, and bruised himself more and more in the process. Night after night she visited him in his cell and treated his wounds. She'd managed to talk Lex out of making Superman swim across the pool again, saying that if their captive drowned or caught pneumonia, they would lose their chance to further torture him. She even caught Lois Lane's eyes when she'd suggested this change to Lex, and thought she'd seen curiosity on the other woman's face… as if Lois had been silently asking her why she was helping Superman… and she had to admit it to herself that not even she knew the answer.

o

Superman and his family had been held captive in Luthor's mountainside villa for a week when the hero's health condition started to rapidly deteriorate. Apparently in the seven days spent in the villa, the poison-concentration in Superman's body had reached such a high level that it finally began killing him.

According to Ross, little Jason was doing fine, although he kept complaining about feeling sick and weak because of the Kryptonite.

On the eighth day of Superman's captivity, the hero didn't even manage to climb the wall-bars at the beginning of the obstacle course but fainted as soon as his hands touched the Kryptonite rungs. He was immediately carried out of the room, and Kitty saw a disappointed pout on Lex's face. "Too easy. Too quick," the man muttered as his employees 'escorted' Lois and Martha back to their rooms. "I was hoping it'd take him longer to break. But well… he's dying, isn't he? I can consider Superman's death as my most special birthday present."

Kitty forced a smile. "Of course, Lex. It's your birthday tomorrow!"

He made a grimace. "If Superman wasn't dying, I would have invited him to my pre-birthday party tonight. Of course, I could still invite Miss Lane…" He shook his head. "Eh, rather not. She'd only ruin my mood with her blood-shot eyes and guilt-awakening expression… It's going to be a private party. You, me, and our employees."

"Sounds wonderful, Lex…" Kitty rubbed her nose to his.

"I wonder why you don't look as happy as you sound," he replied coldly.

o O o

Lois didn't know how long she'd been lying on her cot, staring at the silver streaks the moon painted on the floor. Her eyes ached with all the tears she'd shed since Superman had collapsed without even entering the obstacle course.

She knew she must look a mess, but she didn't care. She knew that she and Clark had already lost their job by failing to hand in an earth-shatteringly amazing Superman exclusive to Perry, but she didn't care. If they both died, then her stupid career wouldn't matter at all. And if only _he_ died… well, Lois caught herself thinking that her career didn't matter in that case either. Damn all the Pulitzers, all the fame and glory she'd craved as a journalist, and damn the bloody comfort she'd got used to as Richard White's cherished fiancée! All that mattered were Clark and Jason. And Clark was dying, there was no doubt about that.

The door of her room opened, and she looked up from the floor to see the thin form of Kitty enter. The other woman silently closed the door behind her.

Lois sniffed, and decided not to ask her about Clark. She would only tell her that he was dying, and it would finalise it. She would need to face the cruel reality, and she didn't want that. Not yet, anyway.

"How's my son doing, do you know?" she croaked.

"Remarkably well," Kitty replied. "Ross says he's bloody annoying… but as long as he's annoying, he's alive and kicking. It's not Jason you should worry about, Lois."

The young reporter nodded, but didn't meet Kitty's eyes.

"There are no guards on the corridor right now. They're at Lex's birthday party."

Lois looked up with a surprised expression. Was the other woman hinting at what she thought she was hinting at?

"Come. He needs you now."

"He's dying… isn't he?" Lois whispered.

Kitty heaved a sigh. "I fear he is. And there's nothing I can do to help him now. Today he didn't even touch Kryptonite… there are no open wounds to be treated. At least… not on his skin… but there might be some, on his soul. And only you can heal those, Lois. I'll take you to him." Kitty turned towards the door, but Lois caught her arm.

"You love him… don't you?"

Kitty looked away. "Just come. He needs you."

o O o

Clark heard the door of his cell open. He couldn't see anything in the darkness, as his cell had no window. It was just as dark at daytime as it was at night, so he didn't even know whether it was night or day.

As the door opened, he saw a thin, feminine frame backlit by the moonlight coming through a window on the corridor.

The door closed.

"Katherine?" he whispered.

The woman came closer and he assumed she'd crouched down next to him.

"Katherine, what…?"

"It's not Katherine," the woman replied in an only too familiar voice.

A shiver of excitement ran through his battered body. "Lois!"

"Shhhh!"

His heart racing in his chest, he remained silent. After a few seconds, a tiny flame appeared out of the darkness, divided into two, then one of the flames winked out. Lois had lit a candle.

"Lois…" he whispered as he caught a glimpse of her pretty but worried face in the dim candlelight.

"Clark… how… how're you doing?"

"Swell… especially now that you're here with me…" He smiled weakly. "How… come you're here?"

"Kitty. She helped me visit you as she'd promised she would."

"She… promised?"

Lois gave him an embarrassed smile. "Days ago I asked her to bring me to you if possible. Now she did."

He grimaced. "Because she knew… that this might the last chance…"

She reached out and took his right hand. "What are you talking about?"

"Lois… I wasn't telling the truth…" He gave her a painful expression. "I'm not exactly 'swell'. I know I don't have… much time left. And I'm so… thankful to Katherine for… bringing you here… giving me a chance to tell you how… how sorry I am."

Tears welled up in her eyes. "Clark, don't-"

He reached out with his left hand, gently putting his index finger on her lips. "Let me talk. Let me apologise. I can't… can't leave without gaining your forgiveness, Lois."

"I've long forgiven you, Clark. For leaving me, for wiping my mind, for-"

"You know?" His eyes widened. "You… know about the mind-wipe?"

She gulped. "I'm just… assuming things, Clark. In Smallville, I had a conversation with your mother, and in the middle of it, things just… came back to me. I don't know how… I don't know why then, and why there of all places… but I remembered our time together as a couple… I remembered our happiness, however short-lived it was… I remembered your sacrifice…" She sniffed and wiped a tear away. "The only thing I don't remember was how you'd stolen my memories… but I was sure _you_ had done it… right, Clark?"

He nodded. "I couldn't bear… to see you suffering, Lois. I… kissed away your painful memories in… in the hope of giving you… a chance to have a proper life." He looked away, ashamed. "I didn't know I was robbing… robbing you of a chance to remember our… our child's conception, because I… I didn't know you were pregnant."

"Clark…" She gently turned his face towards her again. "I did remember Jason's conception. In my dreams. Night after night, I dreamed of loving you, and when I realised I was expecting, I knew it had been you… I just didn't know that _you_ were Clark… and I didn't know where you'd gone."

He covered her hand that was resting on his cheek with his own. "Lois… if I could turn back time… then I would do it. I wouldn't make you forget our love… I would be a proper father to our son… and I'd tell you a hundred times a day how I feel about you… But I can't turn back time. Not five years, that is…" An embarrassed grimace appeared on his pale face. "Not even I am almighty… But I want you to know… that I truly, deeply love you, Lois. You and Jason mean the world to me. Tell him… if you can." Tears welled up in his eyes at the thought of Luthor killing Jason as soon as he, Superman, died.

"He knows, Clark," she whispered, tears freely running down her cheeks, onto the man's face, mingling with his tears. "I'm sure he knows. And I want you to know that what I said the other day in the gym… I meant it. I never… never loved a man as much as I love you. And it's not only Superman I love." She shook her head with a sad smile. "For years I've been blind. I only saw the blue tights, red cape and the huge 'S' and loved the man for his suit. But since the day you woke up with no memories of your past… I began to get to know the true you. Not the idol, not the superhero… but the man who, in many respects, is more human than most of us." She ran her thumb down the side of his cheek in a gentle, caressing motion. "I'm no longer in love with Superman. I love Clark Kent."

"Lois…"

"Shhhh. Don't speak." She silenced him with a soft kiss.

Clark responded to her kiss a little more eagerly than it was expected from a dying person. He parted his lips, and her tongue immediately found its way into his mouth, teasing his tongue with gentle but deliberate strokes. Clark felt his whole body was on fire – something he hadn't felt for over five years… something he'd felt only once before. In the Fortress of Solitude, on the most wonderful night of his life.

Lois's hand travelled down his chest, slipping under his ripped and bloodstained shirt. He realised that Kitty's touch the past few nights when she'd treated his wounds never managed to arouse him, but Lois's… it was almost too much to bear. As soon as her fingers pinched one of his nipples, he let out a gasp and broke the kiss.

"Lois, I… I'm not sure…"

"Not sure of what, Clark?"

"Not sure if I can… _perform_ in my current… condition."

With a small smile, Lois pulled her hand out from under his shirt and slipped it further down his torso until it reached an already sizeable bulge in his pants. She gently squeezed him through the fabric, eliciting a moan from him. "Not being able to perform, eh?"

"Uh, Lois…" he muttered with a flushed expression, "I meant… I can't even _move_…"

She pressed her index finger on his lips. "Last time you did all the pleasuring, Clark. It's my turn. Just lie back and leave the rest to me."

"I… I don't need pity sex, Lois…" he whispered.

She flashed him with a reproachful glance. "Pity, Clark? I don't _pity_ you. I _love_ you."

The thought '_what about Richard?_' ran through his mind, but a kiss she planted on his collarbone swept it out of his head. With the last vestiges of his strength, he pulled her head to his, claiming her lips in a fervent kiss. The dice were cast… there was no going back now.

Despite his guilt, despite the knowledge that he might drop dead any second, he felt happy. Truly happy, for the first time in five years.

o

A few rooms away, a little boy stared wide-eyed at his parents. For almost an hour.

o O o

"There, you're decent," Lois whispered as she finished buttoning up his shirt. She herself had already put her clothes back on.

"_Decent_?" he whispered back, blushing slightly. "What we just did… was far from decent, Lois…"

"And do you mind?" she asked, kissing the tip of his nose.

Silently, he shook his head.

"Good. Now sleep and try to gather some strength. You will _not_ die, Clark Kent, do you hear me? Fight for your life. Fight for Jason. Fight for the two of us."

Again, he nodded. "Thank you, Lois."

"For what?" She smiled, stroking his cheek. He caught her hand and kissed her palm.

"For everything."

"You're most wel-"

In that instant the door of the cell burst open.

o O o

**A/N: feed the author with reviews. Author loves reviews. And spaghetti. Just like Clark. **


	11. The Hills Come Alive

**A/N: thanks for the reviews on chapter 10 to: _htbthomas, Alphie, annwitch, atlantiandragoness, Nightlyeclipse, sylaine, bluecatdevil, LegendLover, MsSupaFan, septempopuli, Volucris12, Divamercury, Zefrn, Li22i096, Miss Kryptonite, G.A. Clive, mary-v, mistressbabette51, blightedmetal, Gisela, Serilia, Hone Melgren_**

**The title of this chapter naturally comes from the amazing movie _The Sound of Music_.**

**Chapter 11**

**The Hills Come Alive…**

Lois jumped off of Clark as the door of the cell burst open. In the doorframe they saw the silhouette of a thin figure. They got a better glimpse of it as soon as it entered the tiny circle of candlelight.

"Kitty?" Lois breathed.

"Katherine?" Clark added.

"I'm here to take you out of here," came Miss Kowalski's reply.

"Huh?"

"I'm setting you guys free," Luthor's girlfriend rolled her eyes. "Come on."

"What?" Lois whispered. "Setting us free? Kitty, I don't understand…"

"Well, listen here," the other woman said a bit more sharply, "Lex and his men were celebrating Lex's birthday-"

"They _were _celebrating his birthday?" Clark echoed her words. "In past tense?"

"Yeah. I kind of… spiked their drinks," Kitty replied, smiling both embarrassedly and mischievously. "They're sleeping like a bunch of babies now. Come on, we're setting the little guy and the old woman free, then off you go!"

Clark sat up, struggling to stand up, but his legs wouldn't obey the instructions of his mind. "What about you, Katherine?" he panted. "Are you too escaping?"

Kitty paused for a few seconds. "No. I can pretend I got drunk too and fell asleep."

"This is dangerous… Luthor isn't a fool, Katherine. He'll find… find out it was you," he carried on, his voice sounding both worried and tired.

Kitty crouched down next to him. "Don't worry about me, Clark. I can take care of myself. Lex wouldn't hurt me… He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he loves me more than you'd think. Come on, Big Boy, stand up."

"I can't." He shook his head, his chest heaving from the efforts he'd made in vain to raise to his feet. "Lois, you go. Take Jason and Mother… as far as you can."

He was surprised when Lois slapped him across the face. "Don't you _dare_ think of staying behind!" she hissed, her eyes flashing. "I didn't do all I did just a few minutes ago to leave you now!"

He bit into his lower lip. She could be really fearsome when upset.

"Why, what did you do?" Kitty asked Lois with an impish grin.

Lois grinned back. "Just reminded him a bit that it was… worth living." She shot Clark a dark glance. "I thought it was enough for you, but apparently… I'll need to remind you again and again."

Clark blushed deeply at Lois's words.

"Now, up you get!" Lois reached out to support him as he struggled to his feet. Kitty propped him from the other side and the trio staggered out of the cell, towards Martha's room to free her.

o O o

"It's stuck," Kitty murmured, trying to turn the key in the lock sealing the door of Jason's room.

"Let me try," Clark offered.

"Do you think you can open it?" Martha whispered.

"No idea," he replied, and, supported by Lois and Kitty from both sides, he turned the key. There wasn't much Kryptonite in the walls of the corridor, so he was exposed to minimal radiation at the moment. As a result, he turned the key a little too vehemently. "Oh, bugger. It's broken."

The three women let out a groan.

"Sorry," Clark whispered, feeling utterly frustrated. He couldn't even stand upright, but a sudden surge of energy had made him ruin their only chance to get his son out of his room.

"Father!" came a small voice from behind the door.

"Jason!" Clark gasped. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Father. Have you, Mommy, Granny and Miss Kitty come to free me?"

Clark and the women exchanged surprised looks. Lois hadn't even spoken since they'd freed Martha… how could Jason know she was standing there outside his door?

"Yes, honey," Lois replied. "We've come to open your door, but the key's broken."

"Then stand aside," said the little boy.

"What?" Clark and Kitty asked in unison.

"Stand aside."

Not having the slightest idea what the child wanted to do, they stepped aside (Clark almost fell as he did, strongly reminding Lois of the always tripping 'clumsy Clark' she'd known for so many years). In the next moment the door opened with a crack, revealing a beaming Jason, who flung himself on Clark's neck. "Father! I'm so happy you didn't die! When you collapsed in the gym, I thought you'd died! I was so scared!"

Swept away by the child's momentum, Clark indeed fell this time. They ended up on the cold tile floor, Clark on his back, his son clinging to him. "Uh, Jason… how did you… do that?"

"What?"

"The door. It was stuck."

Jason giggled. "I opened it, Father. I'm strong, really. I would've opened it earlier, but as long as you guys were kept captive and the evil bald man was torturing you, I didn't dare try."

Clark glanced at Lois, who looked equally puzzled. "Jason…" Clark began, scrutinizing the child's face, as much as he could make out his features in the dark, "did you see me collapsing in the gym?"

The boy nodded eagerly. His eyes wide with surprise, Clark opened his mouth to ask something, but Kitty cut in.

"Come on," she said. "You've got to go before they wake up. Take the chopper."

"But we don't know how to fly a chopper…" Lois replied. "Do you, Clark?"

The man shook his head, still lying on the floor, holding his son in his arms.

"You can't fly us out of here, can you, Father?" Jason asked.

"I fear not. I can't even stand properly, let alone fly…"

"Then we're going to walk," Martha declared.

"What, over the mountains?" Lois frowned.

"Do you know a better solution, dear?" asked the old woman.

"Ooooh, we're going to be like the von Trapp family!" Jason clasped his hands excitedly. "Fleeing over the mountains to Switzerland! Er… where's Switzerland, Mommy?"

"In Europe, honey," Lois replied, pulling her son off of Clark. "Come, Martha. We've got to support Clark."

"Why, you two?" Jason cocked his head, giving them a confused look. "I can prop him alone. I'm strong."

"Yes, you are, honey." His mother ruffled his hair and bent to pull Clark up, which proved to be a harder task than she'd thought.

"You don't believe me, do you?" The little boy whined. "I'm really, really, really strong!" With that, he caught his father's hand and pulled him up in a swift motion, then caught him by the waist. "There. I will help you, Father. Just lean on me." He sent the man a radiant smile that made Clark's heart melt. Taking a step, Clark staggered, but he didn't fall because Jason held him firmly, one of his arms around his father's waist, the other resting on his hip. "You trust me, don't you, Father?"

Clark beamed down at his son. "More than anyone, Jason."

"Then let's go," the child chirped. "Switzerland's still faaaaar away."

Clark's eyes met Lois's and they shared a smile. Yes, Switzerland was very far away… But they were a family, like the von Trapps. They would make it, together.

o

Kitty escorted them to the front door and used a chip card to open it. "Here." She pulled out two sandwiches from the pocket of her cloak. "I know it's not much, but I couldn't salvage more from the party. These men are pigs, they've eaten everything!"

Lois took the sandwiches. "Thanks. It's more than nothing."

"Water you will find in the forest," Kitty continued. "I heard the Rocky Mountains are criss-crossed with creeks. Er… just try to avoid the mountain lions and the coyotes."

"Are there coyotes here?" Jason chimed in. "And roadrunners? Are there roadrunners too?"

"There are no roads here, honey," Lois said, sounding a bit dispirited by the prospect of encountering predators. But the threat presented by the predators was still smaller than the risk of dying here, in Luthor's villa.

"I wish I could steal a gun for you…" Kitty said with a grimace. "But the storage room is code-protected and I don't know the code." She shook her head dejectedly. "Just go… and be careful. Try to get as far from here before dawn as possible, because I'm sure Lex will go after you when he wakes up."

"But he couldn't catch us… if we got help by then," Clark mused.

"Of course!" Lois breathed. "Kitty, we need to use your communications. I could call my father and he'd send a whole army for us if needed…"

Luthor's girlfriend shook her head. "I fear I can't help you with that. The only workable mobile phone in the house is Lex's, but it's password-protected, you've got to type in the password before each call you make… and I don't know his password. The others don't even have cell phones because Lex insisted that those would only interfere with the reception of their walkie-talkies. The walkie-talkies are short-range, though, you can't call Metropolis with them."

"And what about… the helicopter's communications?" Clark wondered.

"Not working." Kitty waved. "Lex was complaining about it all the way through our journey here. He said he wanted to sue whomever sold him the chopper…"

"I understand. No communications, then." Clark nodded, and gathered the surprised Kitty into his arms. "Thank you for everything, Katherine."

Luthor's girlfriend sniffed when they parted. "No problem, Clark. Take care of yourselves, all of you."

"Thank you." Lois smiled at the other young woman as Jason began steering his father out onto the terrace.

"I didn't do it for _you_." Kitty shrugged embarrassedly, her eyes fixed on the receding figure of Superman. "Make him happy, Lois."

"I will."

Martha was the last to leave the house. "You're too good for Lex Luthor, dear," she said simply, sending Kitty a motherly smile.

"That must be the nicest compliment I've ever received," Kitty whispered to herself, a tear running down her cheek. She watched the escapees until they blended with the darkness.

o O o

Lex was the first to come to his senses. He blinked, looked around and established that he was sitting on the floor, his back propped against an armchair. He must have slipped from the seat. All around him men were snoring, some sprawled on the floor, some lying on the couch. One of them even had a half-empty bottle in his hand. Kitty was snoozing in the armchair facing the one he had slipped from.

Everyone seemed to be in a suspiciously deep slumber. Fear clutched at Lex's guts with icy fingers. "Superman!" he whispered and ran out of the room, towards his most precious captive's cell.

o O o

"Oops, sorry…" Clark muttered after having tripped over a tree's root that stood out of the ground.

"No problem, Father," Jason replied helpfully. "I'm here to catch you if you fall. Besides… _I'm_ sorry."

"What for?"

"I saw the root. Should've warned you."

"No problem, buddy. I usually stumble a lot."

"But only at the Daily Planet," Lois remarked, wincing. Her court shoes were fine for walking the streets of Metropolis or the built-out path by the Niagara, but definitely not fit for wading across the undergrowth in a forest or climbing jagged rocks. Not to mention that she had to support Martha as well, as mountaineering was even harder for the elderly woman than for her.

So here they were, a family of four members, two of whom were totally unfit for 'hiking', trying to find their way in a forest, shuddering every time a coyote's howl tore at the night.

"He never stumbles at home," Martha said in a reply to Lois's remark.

"Because at home… I don't have to keep up a façade," Clark replied. "It's quite annoying, you know… having to pretend to be clumsy. Wait…" He leaned against a tree, panting heavily. Now that he wasn't under the effect of Kryptonite, he began to see a slight chance for surviving the ordeals of the past week, but his body had accumulated enough poison to keep him weak for days, possibly weeks. He knew he wouldn't be flying any time soon. Pressing his hand on his heaving chest, he looked in Lois's direction, as much as he could make her out in the darkness. "I owe the Planet… at least three hundred dollar's worth of office equipment. The klutzy Clark ruined two scanners… a laser printer… a fax machine, and numerous staplers. Uh, and I owe you a new glass for your family photo, Lois."

"What?"

"Er… When I returned from space and saw that photo of you, Jason and Richard… and Jimmy told me you were engaged, I just… broke the glass. It wasn't deliberate. I'm sorry."

"Like when I threw the piano," Jason commented. "It wasn't deliberate either. But… it was because I was scared for Mommy. Were you scared too when you broke the glass, Father?"

"Uh… no. Shocked, more like."

"Shocked? Why were you shocked?" Jason continued enquiring.

"Because… I hadn't known your Mommy had got engaged and had a son," Clark replied, his voice sounding distant, and even in the darkness, the others saw that he'd hung his head.

"And you didn't know that I was your son, did you?" the little boy continued. "Because if you had known, you wouldn't have left when Mommy was preg… pregnant, right? Really, how does someone get pregnant? That evil bald man wanted to tell me, but Mommy said I wasn't ready to know that-"

"And I'm still saying you're not ready, young man," Lois spoke up. "Enough of the questions, Jason. Clark, can you carry on walking?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Come, Father, I'll support you. And I promise to warn you of the roots, okay?"

Although Clark didn't have enhanced hearing due to his Kryptonite-poisoning, he would have sworn he'd heard both his mother and Lois chuckle. And he had to give it to them – the situation, despite being lethally dangerous, was almost amusing. Who would have thought that one day the Man of Steel would have to rely on a five-year-old's help to walk?

o O o

"The boy broke out, boss," one of Luthor's gorillas said, examining the door of the room that had until recently functioned as Jason's 'luxury cell'. "See, the lock is totally ruined, and it looks like being broken from the inside."

"I can see it for myself, thank you very much," Luthor grunted. "Apparently the boy hasn't lost his powers due to Kryptonite."

"But boss, he kept complaining that the room was making him weak," Ross, the man who used to take Jason his meals, interjected.

"And did he _look_ weak? Did he _look_ sick?" Luthor demanded, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"Er… to tell you the truth, not really…" Ross shrugged.

"Because he's been having you on for a week, you dupe!" Luthor snapped, his so far suppressed tension suddenly breaking out of him. "A five-year-old snot-nosed kid, outwitting an adult!"

"Honestly, boss, he sounded so convincing…" Ross shuffled his feet.

"Convincing, eh? Aaaaaand the Oscar goes to Jason FitzSuperman White!" Luthor stamped his foot. "You imbecile!"

"Uh, boss…" one of his other men spoke up, trying to sound as polite as possible in order to not rile their employer even more, "the rest of the doors weren't forced. They seemed to have been opened by a key."

Luthor took a few deep breaths, calming himself, and sent the man a cold smile. "Do you think I haven't noticed it, Stebbins? I can assure you that I have. Which means, we have a traitor among us."

The musclemen exchanged dark glances, as if trying to figure which one of them had helped Superman and his loved ones escape.

"But who would be mad enough to help them flee, Leeeex?" Kitty drawled, examining her fingernails.

Luthor turned to face her. For a few seconds he regarded her through narrowed eyes. "I'd say you, my dear."

Kitty blinked. "Have you gone mad, Lex?"

The man reached out and patted the woman's cheek. "Not at all, my dear. But I must admit I'm slightly disappointed with myself. I should have realised you were more than just a pretty face with no brains. I should have realised you were cunning enough to spike our drinks then lie down among us and pretend to have been equally drugged." He gave her an almost appreciative smile. "If you weren't smitten with Superman, you and I could have been a formidable team. You're not the cute lapdog I believed you to be - you're a viper. A woman after my own heart. Too bad you won't live long enough to profit from our partnership…" He waved at his men. "Lock her into Superman's vacated cell for the time being." Seeing Kitty's frightened expression, he treated her to a cold smile. "Don't worry, my dear. You won't stay there long. The boys have one hour to prepare, and then we're leaving, and you're coming with us. We're going to hunt our little escapees down, and you, my precious, are going to see your beloved hero's death. Or better… maybe you get to kill him with your own hands."

"Never." She shook her head, tears welling up in her eyes.

Luthor shrugged. "Either you kill him, or I kill both you _and_ him. The choice is yours."

o O o

Dawn found the little family under a bunch of ponderosa pines, overlooking a picturesque valley. Clark had taken on to keep a lookout while the others had a few hours of sleep. Lois had insisted that she was the one who was supposed to stay awake, as Clark was much weaker at the moment than she was, but he couldn't be convinced. "You three are my family," he'd said. "It's my task to take care of you."

"Cut this male-chauvinist shit, Clark!" Lois had snapped at him, but her voice had suggested she felt touched by his devotion to them.

So, as the first rays of the sun appeared in the valley between two mountains, the only one awake of the four was Clark. Despite his exhaustion and his fear that Luthor and his goons might find them any minute, he felt more or less at peace with the world.

A bird began chirping, and soon many others joined in the concert, waking Jason from his sleep.

The child stirred, lifting his head from his father's chest where it had rested ever since they had decided to stop walking and gather some strength.

"Hi there, sleepyhead," Clark said with a smile.

Jason yawned. "Mo'ning, Father." He looked around, rubbing his eyes. "Oh, wow… this is beautiful!"

"Yeah, isn't it?" Clark replied, gazing at the horizon whose pink hue was gradually turning into gold as the sun emerged from the valley.

"Metropolis is never this pretty," the little boy remarked. "And there's no birdsong there…" He looked up, searching for the birds that had awoken him. "I see them, Father. The one that has the strongest voice is small and blue. Its chest is light blue, but its back is darker blue. Very pretty."

Clark strained his eyes, in no vain. "I don't see it, but I'm assuming it must be the mountain bluebird."

"Do you know all kinds of birds?"

"Quite many, yes. Actually… I think I could recognise any kind of bird… if I saw them," Clark said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. He felt he was practically blind without his X-ray vision.

Jason looked admiringly at his father. "Where did you learn things like that?"

"From the crystals my father – my biological father – left me."

"Can I too learn from them?"

"Unfortunately no, Jason. Luthor stole them. One night when Katherine visited me in my cell, she said she'd dropped the crystals on New Krypton when I was lifting it into space. So I'm guessing they must still be there somewhere…" He made a face. "Too bad I can't go and retrieve them without getting sick or dying in the process."

Jason's tiny hand found his father's and squeezed it. "Then I'll go instead. Kryptonite doesn't hurt me."

Clark's eyes widened, and there was a small gasp coming from their left – Lois had awoken.

"It doesn't hurt you?" she breathed.

"Nope. There were toys made of Kryptonite on the shelf in my room, and when I touched them, nothing happened to me. I think Kryptonite only made me stronger."

Jason's parents shook their heads in disbelief.

"But it did," the boy insisted. "The first time when I saw Kryptonite, was on the ship. Mr. Luthor waved it before my eyes, and I felt so weird when he did that… Not sick, just weird. And not much later I threw the piano and hurt that man who had the Darth Maul tattoo on the back of his head."

"It wasn't a Darth Maul tattoo, honey," Lois said, seemingly unsure whether to look amused or worried.

"But it did look like Darth Maul, Mommy, just a bit funnier," Jason insisted. "Anyway, since the day I was locked into that room, I was getting these funny abilities…"

"X-ray vision," Clark perceived. "That's how you saw us through the door… And that's how you saw the mountain bluebird in the foliage."

"Yeah. But not only that. I can see in the dark, and I have special hearing. I can hear so many things, Father! Even things that are reeeeally far away! I can hear for example that…" He appeared to be concentrating for a while, "that Mr. Luthor has just realised it was Miss Kitty who helped us." Another short paused ensued. "He's threatened her that if she didn't kill you, he'd kill both her and you. Mr. Luthor is sooooo evil!"

Lois and Clark exchanged a frightened glance. Lois could see it in Clark's eyes that he wasn't worried about his own safety, but Kitty's. Clark and his huge heart…

"Jason, honey," the woman spoke up, "can you do other things as well?"

"Uh… no. Only the strength, the vision and the hearing." The little boy sighed. "I wish I could run so quick that you could only see a blur, and I want to fly too! Do you think if I was shut into the room a little longer, I would have learned to run fast and fly?"

"I don't know, Jason." His father shook his head. "But I think it's very likely. Apparently Kryptonite affects you completely differently than it does me. It must be because you're half human."

"And half alien, huh?" Jason asked eagerly. "It's fun to be an alien! Do you think I could make crop circles?"

Lois and Clark's eyes met, and they burst out laughing.

"Huh? What?" Martha sat up, looking around groggily.

"Nothing, Mom. Sorry about waking you," Clark said apologetically.

"Oh, no problem, Son." Martha smiled. "It's a beautiful morning. So very different from the ones we have on the farm."

"Do you have crop circles on the farm?" Jason interjected.

"Er… no. Should we?" Martha sleepily raised an eyebrow at her grandson.

"Yeah, you should, 'cause crop circles are cool. I'll make a few when I visit you. Really big ones."

"Jason, our farm has corn fields," his father said gently. "You can only make proper crop circles in wheat."

"Oh, really?" The boy pouted. "Then I'll do something else that aliens do. What else do aliens do? Besides kidnapping people? 'Cause I really don't want to kidnap anyone."

Clark put an arm around his son's shoulder. "You know what, Jason? If your abilities keep developing like this, then soon you'll be flying and running faster than a speeding bullet. Then we can save people together."

"Like the Incredibles?" Jason clasped his hands. "That'd be just… incredible!"

"Claaaark," Lois said, wagging her index finger at him. "Don't think I'll let my son go saving the world with you instead of going to school!"

"And after school?" Jason asked, cocking his head, which always made him look as innocent as a little angel.

"Homework," his mother replied.

"Then… during school holidays?"

Lois gave him a small smile. "Maybe. But don't get your hopes up, young man. First we have to get out of this forest!"

"We have to find a village, Lois," Clark said. "We could phone your father or Richard from there and…" His voice trailed off as he realised it was the first time since he'd regained his memories that he'd mentioned Richard. He seriously didn't know how to cope with the 'competition' presented by the other man. Then it again struck him: he'd told Richard about Jason throwing a piano. Richard knew that he, Superman, was the child's father. _Oh, bugger. Stupid amnesia. _

"Finding a village sounds like a plan." Lois nodded. "But in which direction?"

"That way." Jason pointed at the nearest hill. "Just beyond that one there's a village."

"Wow. Good to have someone with X-ray vision around." Clark playfully ruffled the child's hair. "Really, Jason… if Kryptonite didn't make you sick, then… did you _fake_ your asthma attack?"

The little boy nodded with an embarrassed expression.

"Don't – ever – do – that – again!" His mother burst out. "You have no idea what I went through!"

"Actually… it was my idea," Martha spoke up.

"Yours?" Jason's parents asked in unison.

The old woman nodded. "The first day of our captivity, Jason and I were closed into the same room, so we had a chance to talk. I advised him to pretend that Kryptonite was making him feel sick. I thought it wouldn't hurt if Luthor and his men didn't know we had some kind of a… weapon in our hands."

"Mom, you're brilliant." Clark slipped closer to her and gathered her into his arms.

"I'm brilliant, but you're a naughty boy, Clark." Martha said with a little smile, glancing at Jason and Lois. "I hope you're feeling at least a bit ashamed, young man!"

Clark blushed to the roots of his hair. "You have no idea…" he whispered. "Er… I think it's time to continue our journey. Jason… can you see Luthor's villa from here?"

The child turned in the direction they had come from overnight. "Yeah. Mr. Luthor looks livid. He's shouting with people. And they're taking guns out of a storage room or what…"

Clark gulped. This didn't sound good at all. "Come on. Let's go." With some difficulty he got up from the ground, and his son immediately stepped to him to support him. He sent the boy a warm smile, trying to forget about the threat presented by Luthor and his gorillas, and of having to face Richard some day and having to talk to him about the paternity they shared. For the time being he only wanted to focus on the rocks they had to climb, the village they had to reach, and the little boy who was propping him with his small, but strong and gentle arms. It felt good to be a father.

o O o

Kitty was roughly jerked off the ground and pushed out of the cell. "Take your hands off me!" she snapped at the bulky man who mishandling her.

"Sorry, Miss, Mr. Luthor's orders," the man replied gruffly.

Pursing her lips and holding Ripper close to her chest, Kitty tried to ignore the gorilla's hands on her shoulders and let him lead her into the entrance hall. There Lex and his employees were already waiting for them, fully armed.

"Take off your shoes and put these on." Lex pointed at a pair of huge, ugly boots.

Kitty wrinkled her nose. "There's no way I'm putting on your gorillas' smelly boots!"

One of said gorillas pointed a gun at her.

With a pout, Kitty kicked off her stilettos and got into the boots that were many sizes too big. "They're going to fall off my feet!" she whined.

"They tie them tightly with the laces," Lex grunted. "Big or not, these are still better for hiking than those high-heeled abominations you usually wear. And now, put down that animal."

Kitty pulled Ripper even closer to herself. "What do you want to do with him, Lex?"

The man rolled his eyes. "Don't worry, I don't intend to eat him. But he's a dog, therefore he's going to serve us as a dog."

The woman's eyes widened. "But… Ripper isn't a hunter, Lex! He isn't trained to follow a scent!"

"Trained or not, his nose is still better than ours," Lex replied with a nasty smirk. "Ross, take the dog into the kid's room and make him smell the sheets."

Kitty reluctantly passed Ripper to the muscleman. "He won't be able to find them, Lex. He's a lapdog."

"Yeah… a lapdog that ate his partner. There's more to this fluffball than meets the eye."

Kitty's stomach clenched. She seriously hoped Superman and his family had got far enough by now.

o O o

"Still no news about Jason or Lois?"

"No." Richard shook his head, gazing at the mahogany surface of his Uncle Perry's office table. "The police claim they're working on the case, but…"

"Do you think they found Superman?"

"_They_? The police?" Richard frowned. He couldn't help it – the past week with his family missing had taken its toll on him, giving him very little sleep, quite a few grey hairs and slowing down the cogwheels in his head.

"No. Lois and Clark Kent," Perry replied. "They said they were going after Superman and promised to deliver me an exclusive." He heaved a sigh. "I threatened to fire them if they didn't hand in that article by last Wednesday."

_If you only knew you threatened to fire **Superman**_, Richard thought dejectedly. "You didn't really mean it, did you?"

His uncle shrugged. "I didn't like Lois's behaviour. Of course, I never really wanted to fire her, but I felt the need to remind her of her duties. I don't need journalists who are reluctant to report on someone's condition out of… emotional reasons."

Richard's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, for heaven's sake, my boy, don't tell me you're unaware of Lois's earlier feelings for Superman!"

Richard made a grimace. _If you only knew. Guess what, your great-nephew isn't your great-nephew!_ "I have an idea what she felt for him, Uncle Perry. But that was ages ago."

The older man sent his nephew a sympathetic smile. "Are you sure?"

Richard bit into his lower lip. "To be honest… no. But let's not talk about Lois's supposed feelings for Superman, shall we? Uncle… if they come back without the exclusive… don't fire them."

For a moment Perry White seemed amused. "I won't. Lane and Kent are the best reporters the Planet ever had. And they're even better when they work together. A real team… even if they haven't realised that themselves."

_Tell you what, I think they have._ With a sad smile, Richard stood up. "I still have to finish that article on the earthquake in Japan. Bye, Uncle Perry."

"Richard?"

"Yes?" He turned back from the door.

"Don't give up hope. I don't know about Jason, but for Lois and Clark… they can't be in much of a danger. They're very likely with Superman, after all."

_That's exactly what I'm afraid of._ Richard sent his uncle a forced smile. "Yeah. With Superman. Cool." _Damn him_.

o O o

Early in the afternoon the little family decided to stop and rest a bit. Lois insisted that Clark have some sleep at last, and Clark didn't object this time.

After a short nap, he woke up, feeling not much more rested than before he'd fallen asleep. Sleepily, he looked around, only to see Jason sitting on the grass next to him, his head bent and his eyes fixed on the ground.

"What are you doing?" he asked. "And where are your Mommy and Granny?"

"They're looking for a creek to wash up, and I'm watching the ants in their underground house," the boy replied, looking up and sending his father a grin. "It's amazing. I love having X-ray vision!"

"Yeah, it can be quite amusing sometimes…" Clark grinned. "Just don't abuse it when you get older…"

"What do you mean by that?" Jason blinked.

Clark chuckled. "You know… teenage boys are very interested what's under a girl's clothes…"

"But Father!" Jason gaped at him.

Clark reached out to ruffle the child's hair. "Forget it. For a few years at least." He put on as serious an expression as he could muster. "It's really, really improper to look through a girl's clothes when she hasn't granted you permission. A gentleman never does that."

Jason wrinkled his nose. "Should I ask everyone for permission to look at them, then? I can see through everyone's clothes without even trying!"

"Er… really?" Clark coloured a bit. "Uh… I think it's natural. I'll teach you how to control it as soon as we get back to civilisation."

"And then I will be able to decide what I want to see through and want I don't?"

"Exactly."

"Whew, that's a relief…" Jason sighed. "I mean, Mommy's really pretty under her clothes, but Lex Luthor isn't. I don't think I like seeing people without their clothes. It's icky. But I bet _you_ like seeing Mommy without her clothes, don't you?"

The man knitted his eyebrows. "What makes you think that?"

The child shrugged. "I saw you two last night. You weren't wearing a thing, nor was Mommy, and she was sort of… bouncing on you. What were you two doing?"

Clark felt as though he'd been slapped in the face. Hard. He had only been exercising parenthood for a day, and he had absolutely no idea how to be a father, let alone how to give his son The Talk. Especially if said son was only five, and had X-ray vision. At that moment he felt as though Jason's deep blue eyes were X-raying his very soul. "Um… you know… I love your Mommy. And she loves me. And when a man and a woman love each other… they make love. That's what we were doing."

Jason frowned. "But Mommy loves Daddy too. Does it mean she made love with him too?"

"Yes, Jason, she did."

"And when we get back to Metropolis, will she make love with both of you?"

"Uh… I hope not." Clark whispered. But really, he asked himself, what was he hoping for? That Lois would leave Richard for him? Just a few days ago, he'd sworn that if they ever got free from Luthor's villa, he'd give up on Lois and let her live a peaceful life with Richard.

He swallowed hard. He didn't want Lois to live with Richard. But did he have the right to take her from him? To take Jason from him? To ruin Jason's relationship to the father he'd known for the first five years of his life? No. "Listen, Jason… When we get back to Metropolis… Mommy will stay with your Daddy. She won't make love to me, ever again, and you mustn't tell your Daddy that she did last night. You can't tell anyone else either. Do you understand, Jason? This is important."

Looking somewhat confused, the child nodded. "I won't tell anyone. I can keep secrets. But can I tell you a last secret?" He grinned, beckoning his father closer to whisper into his ear. "Your willy's bigger than Daddy's."

Clark turned as red as the setting sun. "Uh, Jason? Keep this a secret too, okay?"

"Okay." The boy nodded eagerly.

o O o

"There!" one of Luthor's thugs shouted, pointing at a bunch of bushes.

Another one fired a shot in the direction his friend was pointing at. Frightened by the shot, Ripper ran away, disappearing into the forest.

"What are you doing, idiots?" Luthor snapped at his gorillas.

"Sparrow thought he'd seen them, Boss," the man who'd fired, said with an apologetic expression.

"He _thought_ he'd seen them? You have probably just given away our location to the enemy, you imbecile!"

"And not only that…" Kitty said in a shaky voice.

"What?" Her boyfriend glowered at her.

"Uh, that…" Kitty pointed at something behind the men's backs.

Luthor whirled around and froze.

"What now, Boss?"

"Run, you idiots! Run!"

o O o

"Can you see Mommy and Granny?" Clark asked his son. "We should be going shortly."

"Yep. They're quite far away, though. Mommy's washing her hair in the creek. There are a few deer around, not far from them."

"What kind of deer?"

"Dunno. Quite big ones. They're reddish-brown. There are lots of girl-deer, at least fifteen, four baby-deer, and two boy-deer. The boys have whitish tails and yellowish rumps. They're clashing their antlers to each other's."

"Elks, then," Clark concluded. "Rutting."

"What's rutting?"

"It means the males fight for the females. The winner gets to… er… marry the females."

Jason's eyes widened. "He marries all fifteen? Isn't that big… bigo…"

"Bigamy? No. It's completely natural for most animals to have more than one mate. But humans were created to become a couple for a lifetime… at least, that's how it's supposed to work."

"But it doesn't always work that way, does it?" The little boy cocked his head. "Like with us."

"What do you mean by that, Jason?" Clark asked, although he already knew the answer. His son was too clever and too perceptive for his own good.

Jason shrugged. "Mommy loves you and Daddy too. But you and Daddy can't both marry her, because that would be big-whatsis. Mommy has to choose between you and Daddy."

"No, Jason." Clark hung his head, his eyes fixed on the grass. "She doesn't have to choose. She doesn't _need_ to choose. She has to live with your Daddy. I can't be with her… like that. It's going to be the best for all of us."

The boy knitted his eyebrows. "Does Mommy know that you won't be staying with her?"

Clark shook his head.

"I think you should tell her. What if she doesn't want to make love to Daddy anymore, only to you?"

"For heaven's sake, Jason, don't even talk about that!" Clark snapped, surprised by his own outburst. He'd never ever raised his voice to a child.

But Jason wasn't frightened at all. On the contrary. His arms akimbo, he glowered at his father. "I promised not to talk about it to others, but you're not others, you're you. So, I can talk to you about it, can't I?"

"Jason, please, understand-"

Before Clark could have finished the sentence, there was a bang. It had come from at least a mile away, but it was loud enough to startle anyone around.

"It's Mr. Luthor…" Jason whispered. "I haven't noticed them! I was too taken with the ants and the elks to look at other parts of the forest… Uh-oh… The elks! They've gone crazy! They're running towards Mr. Luthor's men… There's a big rock… they crouch down next to it… the elks jump from the rock, over them, but two of them got… ouch. And now the elks… oh no!"

"What?" Clark grasped the child's arm.

"They're running towards Mommy and Granny! They've noticed them! They're running away too! Run, Mommy, run!"

Beads of sweat were coursing down the side of Jason's face, and he tore himself from his father's grasp, his breath coming in gasps as he jumped up from the ground.

"Jason, stop."

The boy stared at his father. "But I have to help them!"

"I said stop. Don't. Move."

Jason gulped. He didn't like the expression of his father who seemed to be staring at something behind his back. "What is it?" he whispered.

"Just stand very still," Clark replied, his voice shaking.

Jason didn't budge. Now that he concentrated, he heard a funny breathing from behind him. It was heavy and grumbling, and suggested that it was coming from something big. That something big inched closer, into Jason's range of vision. The child gasped.

"Shhhh," his father shushed him. "It's just a black bear. If you don't move, it won't hurt you. Stand still and it will go away."

In that moment a little, reddish furball burst into the small clearing they were standing in, barking loudly and jumping at the first human that came into his way – that happened to be Clark. It all happened in the blink of an eye – the bear, frightened by the sudden movement, did the only thing predators do when angered: attacked.

o O o

**A/N: next chapter: lots of father/son bonding. Stay tuned… and review:)**


	12. His Father's Son

**A/N: thanks to those who reviewed chapter 11: _septempopuli, allymcnally, sunkisst, winddancer55945, atlantiandragoness, JJ the elusive, MsSupaFan, bluecatdevil, mistressbabette51, Rkhiara, The Kiss of Death, Kara-El_**

**Chapter 12**

**His Father's Son**

It all happened in the blink of an eye. Jason saw his father jump towards him (which was quite remarkable in his Kryptonite-weakened state), to push him, Jason, out of the path of the bear's claws. The thought 'he's gonna get hurt!' ran through Jason's mind. Before he realised what he was doing, he flung his own father back, which resulted in Clark crashing into a nearby tree's trunk. The bear, angered by having lost its preys, roared and lunged at the child, only to find itself zooming through the air.

o

Clark groaned. The back of his head was hurting like hell and there was something wet touching his cheek. Slowly, he opened his eyes. The first thing he spotted was a reddish Pomeranian licking his face. "Hey drool on someone else, buddy," he chuckled, turning in the other direction to offer the dog as small a portion of his face to lick as possible. His eyes fell upon his worried-looking son.

"Are you all right, Father?" Jason asked, sitting next to him on the ground.

Clark lifted his head a bit and rubbed his nape. "A little dizzy, and my head hurts, but otherwise…" His eyes widened. "Jason, what happened to the bear?"

The little boy allowed himself a grin. "It learned to fly."

"What?"

Jason pointed at something and Clark sat up to have a proper look. Judging by the looks of the clearing, Jason must have flung the unfortunate bear with such force that the animal's momentum uprooted four trees.

"Wow," said the proud father. "Where's the bear now?"

"Left." Jason shrugged. "Got a bit frightened, I guess."

Clark couldn't help but laugh, which made him double over and massage his ribs. "Ouch. I think one or two might have cracked."

"Sorry." The child looked very guilty all of a sudden.

"For what?"

"Throwing you at the tree. It was an accident. I realised you were about to get hurt and I couldn't let you take on the bear just to keep me safe. I was safe enough, but you could've died." He gave his father an embarrassed smile. "I think I need to learn how to not harm anyone when I'm trying to save someone…"

Clark reached out and took his son's hands into his, squeezing them gently. "You will learn that too. I'm going to teach you as soon as we go back to…" his voice trailed off. "Heavens… what happened to Lois and Mom?"

"Don't worry, they're doing fine," Jason replied. "Though two of Mr. Luthor's men aren't. The elks trampled them and killed them. I heard Mr. Luthor telling his men that those two died… Then he sent two other of his men after Mommy and Granny who managed to run away from the elks. Problem is, they ran in the wrong direction. Now they're getting further and further from the village we're supposed to reach, and Mr. Luthor's men are chasing them. They are still far away from Mommy and Granny, but they will reach them sooner or later." His lips trembled. "I'm afraid for them, Father."

"I am too." Clark sighed. "But let's hope that those gorillas don't reach them, or by the time they reach them, we've found the village and contacted your Daddy or Grandpa or Jimmy, or anyone who can send us help. We have to continue our journey towards the village, Jason."

"I know, Father. We can't help Mommy and Granny now. I wish I could run fast or fly, then I could help them, but now I can only help _you_."

Clark sent the boy a warm smile. "And you're doing a wonderful job, Jason. Thank you for saving my life. You're my hero."

Jason chuckled. "I only did it 'cause I love you, Father."

Tears welled up in Clark's eyes. "I love you too, Son. Come here." The man pulled the little boy into a tight embrace.

Despite all the dangers awaiting them, despite Superman being as weak as he was, Jason couldn't help thinking he was at the safest place in the world – his father's arms.

o O o

"Give me your hand." Lois reached down to help Martha onto a ledge. They had been climbing the hillside for hours. It had been a miracle that they had managed to get out of the way of the rampaging elks, and while they had been trying to get away from them, they spotted Luthor's men in the distance. They were quite sure that Luthor's men had spotted them too, and some of them would come after them.

"I can't… can't go any further…" Martha panted, pressing her hand on her heaving chest. For her age, she was still very youthful and strong, but not strong enough to keep climbing hills at the speed Lois was dictating. A slow, peaceful hike, perhaps, but not this.

"You can't give up! Luthor's men will reach us if we don't continue…"

"Continue? Where, dear?" Martha gave Lois a sad smile. "We've long left the path that leads to the village. We're going in the wrong direction."

"I know, but when we ran from those stupid deer… we were _forced_ in this direction. So we have to continue walking in this direction. Clark and Jason… they will find the village. They will get help. We simply have to go on, and make sure we don't get captured by Luthor's gorillas."

Martha peered down from the ledge they were sitting on. "There! Something moved down there."

Lois swallowed hard. "Two of Luthor's men. So they've really found us."

The old woman gave the younger one a small smile. "Come, dear. I think I can continue walking. Let's buy Clark and Jason some time."

Lois returned the smile. "Yeah. Let's." With that, she sidled to the end of the ledge to continue her way upwards, up being the only direction they could go with Luthor's thugs advancing on them from below. Her feet were aching, as she'd got rid of her court shoes a while ago, thinking they would only hinder her in climbing. Her hands, arms and cheeks were full of scratches, and Martha didn't look any better.

After a few steps, Lois turned to help the old woman. "Careful with those jagged rocks. One of them has just scraped my elbow. And careful with the-"

Before she could have said what she wanted – namely that Martha should be careful with the tiny pebbles that could go loose under her feet – it was too late. The old woman's legs slipped, and if she hadn't latched onto said jagged rocks, she would have fallen. Her legs were dangling over the precipice, and the sharp edges of the rocks were cutting into her palm.

"Martha! Give me your hand!" Lois shouted, crouching down and reaching towards her companion. "I'll pull you up, just… give me your hand!"

One hand still holding onto the sharp rocks, bleeding heavily, Martha reached out with her other, also bloodied hand towards the young woman. At the moment Lois's finger curled around Martha's, they heard a peculiar noise from below.

"Don't look down!" Lois wheezed, pulling Martha's hand with all the strength she could muster. Where were her two 'superboys' at a moment like this?

Gritting her teeth against the pain of her cut, bleeding hands, Martha tried with all her might to find a foothold on the precariously steep hillside. Finally, she felt solid ground with one foot, and felt around with her other foot for a 'step' a bit above the other foothold.

"You're doing… wonderfully," Lois panted, pulling at the old woman with all her might. "Just a little bit moooooore… Gotcha!"

When they were both gasping for breath on a grassy patch in the sea of white rocks, they finally dared look down to find out what that funny sound had been.

"A stone-avalanche…" Martha whispered, shaking from head to toe.

"It must have started when you were flailing around with your legs…" Lois said, still not believing her eyes. There was no movement below – not anymore. The tiny pebbles had loosened medium-sized rocks, which had loosened sizeable boulders. There was no way Luthor's men could have survived it. "Looks like we have a mighty ally." Lois looked up at the sky, tears welling up in her eyes.

Martha too looked up at heaven with a grateful smile. "I hope You're taking care of my son and grandson as You're taking care of us," she whispered.

Lois gently squeezed the old woman's arm. "I'm sure they're taking care of each other."

o O o

"We've lost four men! Four of the six!" Lex Luthor seethed. "Don't you two dare die, you hear me?" he snapped at his two remaining guards. "Your job now is to protect me!"

"Not to catch Superman?" one of the gorillas asked, trying to sound as polite as possible.

Lex rolled his eyes. "Catch Superman, yes, but protect _me_ in the process!"

"And what about me?" Kitty whined. "They have to protect me too! Ripper's gone, and I'm afraid in the dark forest!"

Her boyfriend gave her a piercing stare. "It's your fault that we had to enter this bloody dark forest in the first place, so you'd better shut up!"

Kitty cringed. "Ooookay. Where are we going now? In which direction?"

"Towards Leadville, the nearest settlement. That means, eastwards," Lex replied, turning his back on the setting sun and beginning to walk in the other direction.

"Ooooh, do you have a map inside your head, Leeeex?"

Luthor turned to Kitty and glowered at her. "Stop using this 'ooooh Leeeex' sort of idiocy with me, will you? I know you, Kitty, and I know you're not half as stupid as you pretend to be! Like it or not, your mask fell yesterday, so stop acting as if you were still some silly Barbie doll!"

The woman returned his piercing glance. "As you wish, Lex. I just got used to talking to you like that… Admit it, you love thinking you're so much cleverer than everyone else, and who else could better boost your ego than some silly 'Barbie doll'?"

Luthor grimaced. He'd liked the 'silly Barbie doll Kitty' better.

o O o

"You can't sleep either, can you?" Martha whispered, rubbing her arms in the chilly mountain air. The grass was covered with frost here and there, and the rocks they were sitting on weren't much warmer and drier than the grass.

"The coyotes are howling a little too loud for that," Lois replied sarcastically. "Let's hope they aren't hungry. I'm not exactly as fast as a roadrunner at the moment."

Martha chuckled. "Neither am I." She paused for a moment. "I hope… they're doing fine…"

"I'm sure they are. They're Superman and his son." Lois put an arm around her shivering companion, then looked up at the sky. "It's truly breathtaking. Now I understand what Clark meant when he said that nature, and especially the starry sky, never ceased to amaze him."

"Oh, Clark always loved the stars… from a very young age. Sometimes Jonathan and I caught him sneaking out in the middle of the night for a bit of stargazing. Sometimes we thought the stars might be, you know, beckoning to him… as he came from out there somewhere."

"He promised me to teach me the names of the constellations," Lois said, smiling. "I will remind him of his promise as soon as… we get back to civilisation."

Martha looked at her young companion. She couldn't see much in the darkness, but judging by Lois's voice, she knew that the young woman was fighting an emotional battle at the moment. "Will you, Lois?"

"What?"

"Will you go back to civilisation with Clark and… stay with him?"

"I…"

"You haven't decided yet," Martha perceived.

Lois shook her head. "No, I _have_ decided. I love him. More than life itself. I want to spend the rest of my life with Clark… if he lets me." _But will he let me? Or will he turn away from me again, saying that my life would only be in danger if we stayed together? Will he say I belong to Richard?_

As if sensing her thoughts, Martha spoke up: "And what about your fiancé?"

Lois heaved a sigh. "It's going to be very hard, but… Richard will understand. He's a good man, Martha. Better than anyone I ever knew… except perhaps Clark. I love Richard… but I'm not _in love_ with him... and I think he already knows that. Perhaps… perhaps he's known that from the very beginning of our relationship. I just feel guilty that I deceived him so long… He deserves someone better. Someone who can really love him… him and no one else. And I'm not that woman. I love Clark."

"Clark… or Superman?" Martha asked quietly, but there was some kind of gentle determination in her voice. A determination to find out if the younger woman could love the whole of her son, and not just the superhero side of him.

"You'll be surprised," Lois replied, her eyes again turning to the stars. "I've realised that for years and years I had a serious crush on an icon. I was infatuated with the strength and amazingly good looks of a demigod… but I never got to know the real him. And the real him is Clark Kent… and now I _know_ Clark. I know him for a sweet and caring person… someone with a sense for humour, someone fun to talk to… a selfless man, and… a gentle lover." She blushed in the dark, recalling the wondrous hour she'd spent with him the night before. He'd been practically helpless, barely able to move let alone pleasure her, but his eyes had held all the love in the world, his glance caressing every inch of her body. For the first time in her life, Lois had felt that not only her body, but also her soul melded with someone else's, and it was thrilling and painfully beautiful. It hadn't been the most mind-blowing lovemaking of her life, but it had been the most fulfilling on spiritual level.

"The more often I think of Clark," she carried on, "the more often I see him in my mind's eye wearing ordinary clothes… I'm no longer imagining him in his blue tights. Superman belongs to the past. And Clark is the future."

Martha placed a hand on Lois's shoulder. "You have to know that Clark can't provide you and your son with everything that Richard can. He doesn't have a house, not even an apartment in Metropolis. He doesn't own a car, nor a big bank account. He can't provide you and Jason the stability that your fiancé can."

"Are you trying to talk me out of hooking up with your son?" Lois asked challengingly.

The old woman laughed lightly. "No, dear. I just wanted you to see clear. If you can accept my boy as he is… relatively poor and all… then go ahead, be with him. Make him happy. God knows, he deserves it. He's been lonely all his life."

"I want to make him happy, Martha. I don't care for the financial difficulties. I have some money, we could buy a smaller apartment and Jason will never be in need if we both have our… Oh, no…" she let out a groan.

"What happened, dear?"

"I fear, neither of us still has their job," Lois breathed. "We didn't deliver the Superman exclusive to Perry. He must've fired us." She bent her head on her knees as a coyote's howl tore at the night. "My gosh, I'm being silly. My top priority should be to get back to civilisation safe and sound, and here I am, worrying about my job!" She shook her head in disbelief. "I should be worrying about Jason and Clark."

"You said they were fine… and they are, believe me. I just feel it. We are all going to be fine, Lois. Have faith."

"I'm trying… but it's hard to be optimistic when it's so cooold."

"Look at the bright side of things, dear. At least it's not snowing."

"Don't talk of the devil or he'll appear."

o O o

"I'm cold, Father," Jason complained.

"C'mere." Clark pulled the little boy into a tight embrace, but without his super-powers, he couldn't transfer his own body heat to him. Apparently controlling his own body heat was a capability that Jason hadn't yet developed.

Ripper, who had accompanied them ever since he'd burst into the clearing and frightened the bear, now settled onto Clark's lap, and nudged Jason's hand with his nose. At first Clark had been wary about taking the dog with them, as its barking could reveal their position to the enemy, but Jason had insisted that he'd notice it if Luthor or his goons got anywhere near them.

"You are cold too, Father… Only the doggie feels warm," the little boy mumbled, finally noticing what Ripper wanted and starting to scratch him behind the ear. "Why is that last night we weren't this cold?"

"The weather's changing quickly, which is natural in early October. Yesterday the sky was cloudy, but tonight it's clear, and starry nights are usually colder than cloudy ones."

"Why is that?"

"Because when it's cloudy, warm air is trapped between Earth's surface and the layer of clouds. Now there's nothing to hold back the warm air from lifting up and escaping into space."

"But why does warm air lift?"

"Because it's lighter than cold air. It's physics. You'll learn about that when you're older."

"It must be great to know so many things," Jason muttered, shivering slightly. "I wanna know lots of things, and not only when I'm older… _Now_. Like… what are those stars called?" He pointed at the large patch of sky they could see from the clearing they were resting on. "They look like a 'W'."

"That's the constellation Cassiopeia."

"Cass-what?" Jason looked up at his father.

"Cassiopeia, a queen from Greek mythology. She was the wife of King Cepheus. She was so vain that she claimed to be the most beautiful woman in the world. That's why Poseidon, the God of the Seas, got mad at her and sent a bloodthirsty monster to ruin her kingdom with a tidal wave. The only way she could save her land was to sacrifice her daughter Andromeda to the evil monster called Cetus." Clark pointed at a few stars below Cassiopeia. "See those ones, Jason? Those four bigger stars forming an almost horizontal line? That's Andromeda. And if you focus on the area a bit above the second star from the left, you will see the Andromeda galaxy."

"Oh, wow, Father! It's amazing!"

Ripper barked in agreement, though both father and son doubted if the dog could see any of the stars, let alone a faraway galaxy.

"Yeah… amazing. Wish I could see it," Clark sighed. "But my current vision doesn't allow for that."

"Your vision will be okay soon, won't it? You're healing already… Father… just thought of something. You have a spaceship, right? Can we visit the Andromeda galaxy together?"

The man gently ruffled the child's hair. "Perhaps, Son. Some day."

"Have you seen many galaxies when you left Earth to find your planet?"

"How do you know I went to find my planet?"

Jason shrugged. "Read it in Mommy's article on you. She wrote you gave her an interview."

Clark smiled to himself. He'd never thought Jason read the Daily Planet, or any newspaper for that matter. Kids of his age read comic books only, _if_ they could read at all. His little boy was precocious, indeed… "I haven't read that article," he admitted, "but I've read many others by your Mommy. She's a really talented reporter."

Jason was silent for a moment, as if he were contemplating whether to say something or not. Finally, he spoke up. "You said Mommy loved you, and I think she does… but then why did she write that article that she got that Puli-prize for? It wasn't a nice article about you. I guess I shouldn't even have read it… Mommy doesn't know I did… Why did she write that the world doesn't need you? I think the world needs you. Really."

Clark heaved a sigh. He wished he could avoid conversations like this, but he felt his son deserved to know the truth. He had lied long enough to Lois, and his lies never led to anything good. "She wrote that nasty article because… she was mad at me for having left. And she had every reason to be. I did the wrong thing in leaving and making her forget who I really was…"

"Did you make her forget that?" Jason's eyes widened.

"Yes…" His father hung his head.

"Why?"

"Because I thought I would endanger her life if she knew that Clark Kent was Superman… and I wanted to spare her the suffering too."

"Did she suffer?"

Clark smiled sadly at his son. "She was suffering because she thought she'd have to share me with the rest of the world… and at that time, I thought it was like that too – that I could either be Lois's partner, or the world's saviour, and never both of them."

"But… can't you be both?"

The man bit into his lower lip. Hearing it from a child's mouth made it sound so easy, but it was far from it. "Not anymore," he sighed. "When I had the chance to be happy with her, I wasted it. And now… she's happy with your Daddy. And I have no right to stand between them."

Jason looked his father in the eye with as much maturity as you'd expect from a ten-year-old. "You should ask Mommy about this. Maybe she doesn't think you'd stand between her and Daddy."

Clark shook his head. "You don't understand, Jason. You three are a family. I'm an outsider. A… stranger."

"You're not! You're my father!" the child snapped, sounding shocked. He even pulled out of Clark's embrace and took a few steps backwards. Ripper landed on the forest floor, and let out a few indignant barks. Jason ignored the dog, and in a small voice, he asked, "Do you… do you want to leave me too?"

Tears welled up in his father's eyes. "Oh, Jason…" He gulped to make the lump that had risen in his throat disappear. "Never. I want to be there for you, always… But… to the rest of the world, I will only be your 'Uncle Clark' or something of the sort. Only when we're together with no one else around, can you call me 'Father'."

Jason's lips trembled. "I don't like it."

"Neither do I… but there's no other way for us, Son." He held out his arms towards the boy. "We can only love each other in secret. But I want you to know that I love you very much."

"I know… I'm still cold," the child said, walking back and settling into his father's embrace again. Ripper hopped onto Jason's lap, and the child was grateful for the small amount of warmth provided by the ginger furball.

As he looked down at the shivering child in his arms, Clark felt his heart clench. How could he have ruined his own life so much? How could he have made a decision as stupid as fully dedicating himself to the world, and shutting Lois out of his life? He could have had both. He could have been a hero and a husband at once… and a father too. But it was too late.

What happened between him and Lois the previous night had been a mistake. She'd done it because she thought he'd been dying, and he'd let her because he, too, thought he'd been dying. But now that they had a chance to survive and go back to civilisation, he felt that every second he'd spent with Lois in his arms, had been a stolen moment. Every caress, every kiss, every sweet word whispered in each other's ears… all stolen. He was a thief. He'd stolen so many things from her… He'd stolen her heart, her virginity, her memories and the chance to be happy with him…

He couldn't steal anymore. She had a right to be happy with the man she'd chosen for herself while he'd been away. Richard was good for her. Richard was what she needed: a safe haven, an anchor, a solid rock she could build a proper relationship on.

Clark felt a wave of shame wash over him. He should have refused Lois's tenderness last night. With having allowed her to love him, he had made another unforgivable mistake: he had awoken false hopes in her. And he knew that once they had a chance to talk, he would have to rob her of these hopes again. His heart ached as though someone had stabbed it with Kryptonite, and there was no way to heal a wound of this kind.

"Father… what happened to Princess Andromeda?" Jason asked out of the blue.

Clark couldn't help but smile. Perhaps there _was_ a remedy for aching hearts – his son's every word felt like drops of healing elixir. He knew he would lose Lois, but there was no way he'd give up on Jason.

"She got saved by a valiant hero called Perseus. All the five of them – King Cepheus, Queen Cassiopeia, Princess Andromeda, Perseus, and the sea monster Cetus got a constellation named after them."

"Greek myths are so cool," Jason yawned, closing his eyes.

"Yes, Jason, they're very cool. You too were named after a Greek hero, did you know?"

The child's eyes flew open. "_Really_?"

"Yes." Clark nodded. "The mythological Jason was the son of the king of Iolcus, therefore he was the rightful heir to the throne that his evil uncle Pelias usurped. Pelias sent his nephew to get him the Golden Fleece in Colchis, because he thought that sending the boy on such a dangerous journey would kill him. But Jason was brave and skilful and he got the Golden Fleece."

Jason smiled into his father's shirt. "It's great that I was named after a Greek hero. Will you tell me more Greek tales later, Father?"

"I will tell you as many as you want." Clark kissed the top of the little boy's head. "Now go to sleep. We have a long journey before us tomorrow."

"Ooookay… but if a predator attacks, wake me up. I'll protect you."

o O o

Thankfully no predator came near them, but Clark still woke Jason up shortly before dawn. The little boy looked around, yawning. "Why have you woken me up so early? It's still dark."

"There's going to be a storm, Jason. We've got to reach that village as soon as possible."

The boy squinted up at the sky. All the stars were gone, hiding behind a thick layer of clouds. "There's no lightning," he perceived. "Why do you think there's gonna be a storm, then?"

Clark – though somewhat shakily – stood up without help. He still felt very weak, but the more time he spent away from the Kryptonite-villa, the stronger he got. "It's not that kind of storm, Jason. No rain, no thunder… it's going to snow."

"Snoooow?" Jason's eyes widened in surprise. "But it's only October! It only snows in December and January!"

"In Metropolis, perhaps," Clark replied, taking his son's hand. "But this is the Rocky Mountains. The higher a place is, the more likely it gets snow. The highest peaks are always covered with snow, even in summer."

"Oh. I see," Jason said as his stomach gave a painful rumble. "I'm hungry."

"I know Jason," his father sighed. The last time they'd eaten bits of the sandwiches Kitty had smuggled out of Luthor's party, had been the previous afternoon. "So am I. We'll see if we can find some huckleberries or something of the sort."

"Is it like blueberry? I'm allergic to blueberry… at least, I think I am," Jason chattered away as they began walking in the direction the boy had spotted the village in. "Not sure, though. I've been allergic to too many things ever since I was born, but recently I haven't. Ross, that guy who brought me my sandwiches in Mr. Luthor's house often brought me things that I was supposed to be allergic to… But I never had any problems with them. Why is that, Father?"

"It seems to me that Kryptonite not only made some of your dormant abilities kick in, but it also made your immune system stronger. No asthma, no allergies… I just wonder whether you're…"

"What?"

"Um… invulnerable."

"Dunno, but when I accidentally smashed a Kryptonite toy in my hand, it didn't hurt my skin. The edges of the broken parts were really sharp, but they didn't do anything to me. Then once, when I saw you fall from that rod in the gym, I forgot I was looking at you through the walls, and I ran at the wall. The wall dented, and my nose hurt a bit, but it didn't break or anything. It didn't even look bruised. I think I _am_ inv… invuler…"

"Invulnerable. Difficult word." Clark smiled, but the next instant the smile vanished from his face. It had begun to snow.

o O o

"Gee, Lex, it's snowing! In October!"

Luthor rolled his eyes. Even though Kitty had proved to be cleverer than she looked, at times like this he couldn't help thinking that she was still the same dumb maid he'd 'rescued' from the Vanderworth household.

"We're in the mountains, if you haven't noticed," he grunted. "It tends to snow here even in summer."

"How could I know that?" Kitty shrugged. "I grew up in Metropolis. It barely ever snows there. I hate snow, it's cold and wet."

"Whether you hate it or not, snow is our ally at the moment," Lex replied. Seeing Kitty's confused expression, he added, "your stupid dog's strayed away, so we have no idea where to look for Superman and that little brat… We suspect they must be heading towards Leadville, but that is all: a suspicion. Snow could help us, though. Guess how?"

Kitty's eyes widened. "Footprints!"

Lex gave her a sour smile. "Clever girl."

"But Lex, do tell, how do you intend to do away with them once we catch them… _if_ we catch them at all? I mean, the kid's strong, and invulnerable to Kryptonite."

"He might be… but his father isn't. And I have a few very special bullets just for him." Luthor gently patted the pistol in his jacket pocket.

Kitty raised an eyebrow at him. "What if he's healed by now? What if he's invulnerable once again?"

The man treated her to a nasty smirk. "Trust me, he isn't invulnerable to _these bullets_."

The woman's eyes narrowed. "You had them coated with Kryptonite, didn't you?"

Luthor smiled at her coldly. "A few more guesses like that, and I'll be inclined to give you an IQ test to fill in. I think I might get surprising results."

o O o

By noon the snowstorm was raging so heavily that Clark could barely see anything and had to rely on Jason's special vision to lead the way. Ripper had strayed away from them, and neither of them bothered to go looking for him.

Jason had checked on his mother and grandmother, and established that they were doing fine, descending into a valley. Jason thought they looked tired and cold, but not nearly as much as his father.

"How far is the village, Jason?" Clark asked between two sneezes. He didn't remember the last time he'd been suffering from a cold. Actually, he thought he'd never had a cold before.

"Still quite far, Father. We might reach it by sunset, but you're gonna get really ill if you can't get someplace warm. I see a wooden cottage nearby, just behind those shrubs. It's empty."

"Then… let's go there," Clark said with chattering teeth. _And let's hope the owners won't sue us for breaking and entering…_

They walked in silence for minutes, not wanting to outbellow the howling wind. Soon the cottage loomed into view. It was a shabby little house, built right at the foot of the hill.

"Jason, can you see Luthor and his men around?"

The boy looked around. "Yep. But they're quite far. We have time to warm up in the house and we could leave well before they get here."

"All right, then." Clark staggered up the three rickety steps onto the small porch and saw that there was a padlock hanging on the door. "Jason… do you think you could… do something with that?"

The little boy stepped to the door and grabbed the padlock in his tiny hands. There was a soft crack, and the heavy iron snapped. "That was easy," Jason said. "Much easier than pushing the wardrobe to hide the dent in the wall."

Clark let out a chuckle and ruffled Jason's hair with his half-frozen fingers. "That's my boy."

Jason beamed up at him and opened the door. They entered.

The cottage wasn't any warmer on the inside than the forest outside, but there was a nice fireplace with a sizeable pile of firewood before it. Various pick-axes were hanging on the walls, suggesting that the owner must be a miner, which was not surprising, given the fact that the area was rich on various minerals, especially Molybdenum.

Father and son tossed a few pieces of firewood into the fireplace.

"Now all we have to find is a match…" Clark murmured, looking around. "Do you see any matchboxes in the cupboards?"

"No." Jason shook his head. "But maybe I could try… dunno if I could, but…"

"What, Son?"

"Heat-vision. I haven't had it yet, but if you told me how to do it, I might manage it."

Clark shook his head. "Heat-vision is one of the most difficult-to-control abilities. It's not something you can learn in a crash-course. Besides… I can't teach you anything as long as I myself don't have my powers. You know… should anything get out of hand, I need to have my powers to put it right. We don't want to accidentally set fire to this house."

Jason pouted. Heat-vision was so cool, and he'd longed to try it ever since he'd found out about his special heritage.

"I think… we'll have to revert to the cave man technique…" Clark mused.

"Huh?"

Clark grinned at his son's confused expression. "I'll show you, just find me a thin piece of wood."

Jason nodded, looking around in the house, scanning every nook and cranny for a thin piece of wood. That was when his eyes fell upon a crate full of bottles. Possibly some kind of drink… He would have liked to eat something more than drink, but it was still more than nothing.

He walked over to the crate. "Found something, Father. Come, look."

Clark began walking towards the boy who was bent over a crate, reaching for a bottle - a bottle whose label was half torn, the only legible letters on it being 'NITROG'.

"Jason, NO!"

But the little boy had already whisked the bottle out of the crate.

In the next instant the house exploded.

o O o

Even despite the howling wind, they could hear the explosion. "What was that?" Kitty yelped in fright.

"Obviously something just blew up," Lex replied.

"Let's go, have a look," she suggested.

"Are you out of your mind?" the man snapped at her.

"Er, Boss… the explosion came from the direction the footprints are headed," one of Luthor's two remaining men said.

Lex scratched his jaw. "Well… Having a look won't hurt, but be on your guard."

o O o

"Did you hear that?" Lois breathed.

"Probably just miners, working," Martha replied.

"It didn't sound like something blown up _inside_ the hill." Lois swallowed hard. "I have a bad feeling about this."

o O o

_The storm's over,_ Clark thought. _No wind howling… nothing whatsoever… Just this smell… Everything smells of burnt wood… and burnt cloth._

Then he heard a noise. It sounded like wooden girders being moved. Someone spoke: "I see them, Boss. One of them at least."

"Then dig quicker!" came an only too familiar, harsh voice.

Suddenly light tore at Clark's eyes as something big – probably the surface of a table – was lifted off him.

"Well, well, well… hello there, Superman!"

"Luthor…" Clark muttered, squinting against the light. Then he suddenly remembered. "Jason!" He sat up, only to slump back as soon as he did. Having been buried under the remains of a house didn't do him much good in his Kryptonite-weakened state. It was a wonder he'd survived the explosion at all. Perhaps his invulnerability was gradually returning to him… But what of the boy? What of his son? "Jaaaason…" he moaned as he saw Kitty's worried face looming over his. "Where's he?"

"Very likely under the fallen girders," the woman replied in a shaky voice. "I'm sorry, Clark…"

"And you'll be even more sorry, _Clark_," Luthor said in a derisive tone, "because we're here to finish you off. Your little boy is dead, but rejoice, you're going to join him soon!" He waved at one of his men, who immediately levelled his gun at Kitty. The other thug's gun was still pointed at the battered hero.

"Lex, what…?" Kitty began, only to be silenced by the sight of Luthor pulling a pistol out of his jacket pocket.

"I trust you remember out little bargain, my precious… You set Superman free… so either you kill him, or you die. These two gentlemen here will shoot you if _you_ don't shoot _him_. Choose, Kitty. He's going to die either way, but you can save your own life. All it takes is pulling the trigger."

Kitty's lips trembled and the tiny drops of tears that had settled on her eyelashes, froze there. With a shaking hand, she reached out for the pistol.

"Good girl…" Lex purred into her ear as he passed the gun to her. "The first two bullets are coated with Kryptonite… just in case you miss him… Though I doubt you could, if you moved a little closer. No one can miss at point-blank range."

Kitty looked down at her hand holding the pistol, then glanced at Clark. The man had struggled to his knees, and she saw that his eyes were filled with tears as he looked up at her. She knew those tears weren't shed for his own life, but for Jason's… and perhaps… a little bit for Kitty's as well.

As their eyes locked, she gulped. She had never seen so much pain in anyone's eyes before. Superman was mourning his only son. Perhaps he'd be happier if he too died and could be together with the boy… but what about the world, then? Lois Lane's article titled _Why The World Doesn't Need Superman_ came to Kitty's mind. She'd read that article when she'd known next to nothing about the hero, besides the fact that he had all kinds of super-powers and that he'd left mankind for some unknown reason. But she'd learned to know him since. And she'd learned to love him since. He was a man stronger than anyone she'd ever known… and not only physically. If he survived, he'd surely be torn over his son's death, but he'd get over it, she told herself. He was strong enough to make it. And the world needed him…

She glanced at Lex, who seemed to be getting impatient. The gorilla behind him never took his eyes off Superman, in case he tried something funny. But the other gorilla, Ross, was standing to her left, pointing his gun at _her_, not at Superman. Besides, Ross's gun was filled with ordinary, Kryptonite-free bullets. Perhaps Superman still had a chance. And if she had to die to give him back to the world, then she'd risk it.

Taking a deep breath, Kitty pulled the trigger. Twice.

o O o

**A/N: Ehm… _author clears her throat._ The more reviews I get, the quicker I reveal what happened when Kitty pulled the trigger. Twice. **

**That means: R E V I E W!**


	13. The Woman Who Saved Superman

**A/N: since you've been reviewing rather nicely, you deserve a fairly quick update. Keep your good habit of reviewing, and I will keep my good habit of updating quick ;)**

**Thanks to the following people for reviewing chapter 12: _pyrokitty714, Divamercury, dragon-warlord, atlantiandragoness, Rkhiara, bluecatdevil, KirijamaScion, MsSupaFan, septempopuli, Heala, winddancer55945, lauraart123, mary-v, Miss Kryptonite, __Nightlyeclipse, LoadedLSUTigersRule!, praesul femella, The Kiss of Death, mistressbabette51, JamesTKent_**

**Chapter 13**

**The Woman Who Saved Superman**

Clark couldn't believe his eyes. Kitty, the whiney, Barbie-doll-like Kitty, had just shot Lex Luthor and one of Luthor's men who had been pointing a gun at him.

Luthor's other goon looked just as dumbfounded as Clark. His friend seemed to be dead, and his employer was obviously dying.

"Kill… her…" Luthor hissed through gritted teeth. He was lying in the slush, pressing his hand on his heavily bleeding chest-wound.

The muscleman didn't move, Clark, however, did. He slowly stood up, trying to ignore his aching wounds and immense fatigue. Using the gorilla's temporary shock, he stepped before Kitty, shielding her from the gun.

"You bitch… you betrayed me…" Luthor groaned, his eyes full of accusation and pain.

This man had truly loved Katherine, Clark perceived. He could see it in his eyes – there was disbelief over having been betrayed by his love. Clark was shocked to realise that a man as evil and calculating as Lex Luthor could _love_ someone. But now, Luthor's love had turned to hate.

Tears were running down Kitty's cheeks. "I'm sorry… Lex… You left me no other choice."

"Kill her!" Luthor shouted at his single remaining guard.

"You have to kill me first," Clark said, willing his voice to sound calm, although his soul was in a turmoil. Jason, his only child, was very likely lying dead under the fallen girders… _If_ there was anything left of him at all… Nitroglycerine was one of the most effective explosives, after all… Clark swallowed hard. How could he ever look Lois in the eye again? How could he ever forgive himself for not being quick enough to stop Jason from taking that bottle? How could he ever tear the little boy's face from his heart?

The gorilla seemed to have shrunk a bit. The idea of taking on Superman, however weak the hero was at the moment, apparently didn't appeal to him much.

At that moment a small voice came from under a pile of fallen girders: "Father?"

"Jason!" Clark thought his heart would jump out of his chest. "Jason, are you all right?"

"F…fine… But I couldn't t-t-talk for a while…" the child's voice still sounded very weak and his teeth were chattering. "I've been trying to say something, but… I… I simply couldn't."

"Must have been the shock, Son," Clark assumed, still not moving, in case Luthor's muscleman got the idea of shooting Kitty if he moved aside. "Do you think you can lift the girders, Jason?"

"Uh-huh… I think I can…" came a bit insecure reply. "Just t-t-tell people to look away. All my clothes are gone. Must've burned or s-something."

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Clark couldn't help but let out a short, relieved laugh. His son was indeed invulnerable, but his clothes weren't.

"All right," the muscleman spoke up, "come out, kid, but no swift moves, no suspicious behaviour."

"I can't do swift moves," the little boy replied from under the pile of wood, "I haven't yet learned that."

"Oh yes, and you were totally sick from the Kryptonite, weren't you, kid?" the man asked nastily.

"Was that irony, Mr. Ross?" Jason wondered.

"Uh… yeah, kid," replied the muscleman, his mouth involuntarily tucking into a grin.

"_This_ is irony," a raspy voice said, making Clark, Kitty and 'Mr. Ross' look in the voice's direction to see a maniac smirk on Luthor's face as he pulled the trigger of the sniper he'd snatched from his dead employee lying not far from him.

Weak or not, bruised or not, Clark's instinct for protecting any living being kicked in, and before he even realised what he was doing, he'd lunged at Luthor, pulling on the firearm just enough so that the shot would miss Kitty.

A loud bang tore at the air – much louder than the ones caused by Kitty pulling the small handgun's trigger, and Luthor let go of the weapon.

In that instant a bunch of girders shot in all directions, and Jason was standing in the sea of broken and burnt logs, naked and shivering.

"Damn you, Superman…" Luthor muttered, reaching out, as if trying to strangle someone, but he wasn't even strong enough to sit up. The melted snow around him was already painted a sickly pale red by his blood. "Damn you both, Super_men_." His outstretched arm dropped into the slush with a splash, and the light left his eyes. Even in his death, he was staring hatefully at his archenemy.

Despite his natural aversion to Luthor, Clark felt inclined to crouch down and close his eyes, but an almighty rumble stopped him.

"What the…?" Kitty muttered. Then she saw it. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened to a silent scream.

The snow on the mountainside that the cottage's explosion must have loosened somewhat, had received a 'final nudge' when Luthor had fired the sniper, and was now hurtling down into the valley.

Clark, weakened by the explosion and his latest attempt at saving Kitty's life, found that he couldn't move. He was practically rooted to the spot, watching as the avalanche drew nearer and nearer.

"Superman, do something!" Kitty shouted.

I can't… My legs aren't moving… 

Suddenly he felt something grab him and whisk him away at breakneck speed.

In the next instant the avalanche covered the ruins of the miner's house, along with Lex Luthor's body.

o O o

Lois grasped Martha's shoulder. "Did you hear that? Someone was shooting again!"

"It may be just hunters," the old woman replied, though she knew she didn't sound very convincing. "What… what's this noise?"

Lois froze. She was quite sure she knew what was making that noise. _Oh, God, let them not be in its way!_

o O o

Only when he fell headfirst into a snowdrift, did Clark's mind register what had happened. Spluttering, he pulled his head out of the snow to see Kitty's butt and legs poking out of another drift.

Something moved inside the snowdrift in the middle, and a small, pink body clambered out of it.

"S…sssssorry," Jason said with chattering teeth. His knees too seemed to be weak, barely able to carry his small weight. "R…rrrough landing. Have to learn h-how to slow down."

Clark took in the sight of his shivering son, and found that he couldn't utter a word. Silently, he gathered the boy into his arms, tears welling up in his eyes. He had never before felt so relieved. Perhaps he hadn't felt so happy in his whole life either.

The drift on the left moved, and Kitty climbed out of it.

"You o-oookay?" Jason asked, trembling like a leaf, as he was standing in the snow naked and barefoot.

"I am…" Kitty replied somewhat shakily. "But… apparently you aren't. Here." She took her coat off and handed it to the child. "You need it more than I do."

With a grateful smile, Jason put on the oversized coat that reached down to his ankles. His feet were red from the cold. "I can try to run with you to the village…" he offered, though he didn't sound very sure of himself.

"No way, Jason," his father said gently. "You can barely stand. What you've just done tired you, which is natural. C'mere." Clark gently lifted the child onto his arm, and stifling a groan, he stood up.

"You can't carry me, Father," Jason protested. "You're weak."

Clark shook his head. "Don't worry, Son. I'm doing just fine. But if you hadn't saved us… Really… hadn't you said earlier that you couldn't run fast?"

Jason shrugged. "I thought I couldn't. But when the snow came down the hill, I got just as frightened as I did when that evil man tried to beat up Mommy on the ship… and I just ran." Suddenly, his eyes widened as he remembered something. "Mr. Ross… He's still there! I couldn't bring him too! I… I only have two hands." Tears welled up in his eyes. "Mr. Ross isn't evil like the others were. Do you think he could have…?"

"Survived? I'm sorry but I doubt it," his father said honestly.

"Can we go look? We could dig him up. Perhaps he didn't die!"

"Can you see him, Jason?"

The child focused his eyes on the mound of snow that covered the ruins of the cottage. "I can. But I dunno if he's alive."

Seeing the desperation in his son's eyes, Clark heaved a sigh. "All right. Let's go and have a look."

o

As they arrived at the mound and Clark and Jason began to dig where Jason saw 'Mr. Ross' under the snow, a little, reddish animal burst out of the bushes, barking loudly.

"Ripper!" Kitty squealed and crouched down to scoop the dog off the ground. Holding her pet close, the woman watched as the man and the boy dug for the snow-covered henchman.

"Is… is he alive?" She heard the child whisper.

A pause ensued, a little longer than it was supposed to be. She already knew the answer.

"I'm sorry, Jason," Clark said heavily.

"Nooooo… Mr. Rooooss…"

Kitty glanced at the kid over Ripper's furry head and her heart clenched. The little boy buried his face into his father's shoulder and wept. _So young_, Kitty thought, _and physically so strong, but emotionally still so weak…_

"Jason…" Clark pulled back a bit to look the boy in the eye, "I know you wanted to save him… but you have to remember this: you can't always save everyone. Not even if you try very hard. Even a superhero has his limits."

Sniffing, Jason nodded. "But I liked him, Father. He was grumpy, but… I think he liked me too."

Clark wiped away his son's tears. "No wonder… there's no one who knows you who doesn't like you."

The child pulled a face. "Mr. Luthor didn't like me."

"Because he was an idiot. Everyone else loves you, Son." Clark gently kissed him on the cheek and lifted him into his arms again. "Let's go and find that village, shall we?"

"It's that way." Jason pointed to the right, then bent his head on his father's shoulder. Kitty, carrying Ripper, and Clark, carrying Jason, began walking towards Leadville.

Kitty couldn't help thinking that it was probably fortunate that 'Mr. Ross' had died. It would be dangerous if there were untrustworthy people knowing about Clark Kent being Superman… She shuddered at the thought. Would Superman want to make sure she forgot about it too? She cast a sideways glance at the young, battered-looking father moving with difficulty in the knee-high snow, and couldn't help thinking that she didn't want to lose a treasured memory like that. She wanted to remember him the way he was: the strong hero, and the gentle, loving person that hid behind the hero's mask.

o O o

"I hope they won't recognise me," Clark murmured as they walked into the village. Jason was fast asleep in his arms.

"I doubt if they will… with that beard of yours," Kitty commented with an impish grin.

Shifting Jason a bit to be able to hold him with one hand, Clark touched his face. What he felt there was a bit more than stubble. "Gee, I've never had a beard before," he said with a grimace. "I must look horrible."

"Don't worry," Kitty chuckled, "you're just as handsome with a beard as you are without. But truth be told, I like you most with your glasses. They're kinda cute."

Clark wrinkled his nose. "I never liked them… but they are necessary. Beard or not, I wish I could have the glasses now to be even more unrecognisable."

"Who said you _couldn't_ have them?" With a smirk, Kitty reached out towards Jason and pulled something out of the winter coat's pocket. "Voilá, your glasses."

Clark's eyes widened. "How did you get them?"

"When Lex's men forced you and Lois into the chopper, I looked around in your ice fortress and found the glasses lying on the floor. They must've fallen while you were sleeping or something… and I thought I'd keep them." She flushed slightly. "Had you died, I would have kept them…"

"Katherine…" Clark shook his head in disbelief, taking the glasses from her and putting them on.

She shrugged. "It's not like I was keeping your boxers or something… Not that I would have minded keeping them." She wiggled her eyebrows at him, making him turn as red as the setting sun. "Hey, just teasing you, Big Boy. I think I have something for shy guys."

"Really? Then what did you like in Lex Luthor?" Clark wondered, hoping his voice didn't sound as embarrassed as he was feeling at the moment.

"I fell for his self-confidence, I guess… but soon I realised he had a bit too much of it." She looked away, chewing her lower lip. Clark decided not to pry. She needed some time to get over the events of the past few days, and face her own inner demons and defeat them. She had murdered two people, after all… And she'd done it for _him_. No one ever had killed people to protect him. This was something new for Clark, and it didn't feel good at all.

"Oh, look, there's the Sheriff's office!" he said to turn the conversation to something else. "Let's hope they can help. Oh, and Kitty… let _me_ talk."

The woman silently nodded.

They entered the Sheriff's office to find a girl with fairly short, very blonde, curly hair, sitting behind a desk, polishing her nails.

"Um, hello," Clark greeted her.

She looked up and flashed him with an adorable smile. "Hi there! I'm Betsy Bones, Sheriff O'Connell's deputy. What can I help you with?"

Clark thought she looked nothing like a Sheriff's deputy. Actually, she strongly reminded him of Claudia from Relic Hunter. "Um, Miss Bones, we'd like to ask for the Sheriff's help. This lady, the child, two other ladies and myself have been kidnapped. We managed to escape from our kidnappers, but our ways parted, and the other two ladies are still out there in the mountains. We couldn't go back to help them because-"

"…you were hurt," the blonde woman concluded, fluttering her eyelashes at him. "I can see it, your face is full of scratches, poor boy…" She leaned a little closer and said in a voice that rather resembled a purr: "You remind me of someone."

"Er… do I?"

"Yeah…" Miss Bones said with a dreamy expression. "You look a lot like the guy from that shampoo ad. Head & Shoulders, I think…"

"I can assure you that I never played in an advertisement," Clark replied, gently lowering the slumbering Jason onto a chair. He still felt fairly weak, and the child's weight had made his back ache like hell. "Can you tell the Sheriff about the two ladies' predicament? They're freezing up in the mountains!"

"Uh… the Sheriff isn't here. But I can phone him. A moment…" Never taking her eyes off Clark, Betsy dialled a set of numbers, and Clark wondered how those precariously long, red fingernails of hers didn't break.

"Uh, Boooooss? It's Betsy. There are a few people here saying that two women are wandering in the mountains and need help…" A short pause followed while the woman listened to the Sheriff's reply. "But Boss, we don't have a helicopter! …Oh, so we should ask the Sheriff of Breckenridge to lend us theirs? Ooookay, callin' him right away." She put down the receiver and flashed Clark with a mischievous grin. "I think I know. You're the guy who won five hundred thousand bucks in Who Wants To Be a Millionaire last month, aren't you?"

"Er… no. I wish I were, but no."

Betsy shrugged and dialled another number. "Sheriff Lockhart? I'm the deputy for Sheriff O'Connell from Leadville. We need to borrow your chopper. Urgently."

Clark thought he'd never met a woman as silly-Barbie-dollish as Betsy Bones. Claudia in Relic Hunter was a genius compared to her.

"…yeees, and they're stuck in the mountains! Where? Er… a moment…" She turned to Clark. "Where exactly? Far from here?"

"We last saw them yesterday at the foot of a rather huge mountain," Kitty chimed in.

"Must be Mount Elbert," Betsy mused. "Yeah, Sheriff, near Mount Elbert. Oh, thankie-thankie!" She ended the call and sent Clark a radiant smile. "They're going for them right away! No worries, Mr…"

"Kent. Clark Kent."

"Claaaark… What a lovely name. So simple and short, yet so… manly."

"Listen, sweetie, he's with me," Kitty said sharply, taking Clark by the arm in a possessive way.

Betsy turned her nose up at her.

"Uh, thank you very much for your help, Miss Bones," Clark said in a placating voice. He was thankful to Kitty for 'protecting' him from the pushy blonde, but he didn't want to hurt the feelings of said pushy blonde. "Could you tell us where we could get some proper clothes for the little boy? The kidnappers took his things."

Betsy's eyes widened. "What evil paedophiles! I hope he hasn't been molested by them!"

"No, thankfully no… he's just tired and cold," Clark said with sad puppy eyes.

Betsy's heart seemed to melt. "Don't worry, Mr. Kent, we can go to the nearby orphanage, they will surely get him a jumper and pair of slacks." She looked at the dozing child. "Shoes and socks too."

"Thank you, Miss Bones. One last question: can I use your phone? I need to tell the little boy's dad that we're doing fine. He must've gone crazy with worry by now."

"Naturally…" Betsy cooed and lifted the phone to the counter so that Clark could access the dial. "Oh, I know! Didn't you play in those Superman TV shows?"

"What?" Clark almost dropped the receiver.

"Oh… no. That was Dean Cain. Sorry…" Betsy shook her head. "But you really do remind me of someone."

"You know what, Miss Bones?" Kitty spoke up. "Why don't you show me where the orphanage is so that I can bring the boy some proper clothes?"

Betsy seemed to be in two minds about whether to leave a complete stranger alone in the office or not, but Clark's gentle smile convinced her that he was harmless and surely wouldn't rob the office or hide a bomb inside while she was away.

"Okay. We'll be back in five minutes, the orphanage is just around the corner. Come, Miss…"

"Kowalski."

o

"Jimmy?"

"CLARK! For heaven's sake, where have you been?"

"Long story, Jimmy. I'll tell you as soon as I can, but this is urgent - can you put me through to Richard? I don't know his direct number."

"Sure, C.K."

A few seconds of silence ensued, and Clark felt that his heart was hammering in this throat. He definitely wasn't looking forward to talking to Richard, but it had to be done.

"Richard White," a tired voice said.

"Hello, Richard. It's Clark Kent."

"CLARK!"

"Shhhh! Don't draw attention to yourself. Try to keep your calm. I'm calling because we need your help. Lois, Jason, and… uh, me too."

"How're they?" The tiredness had completely evaporated from Richard's voice. "Are they doing fine?"

"Jason is with me, and he's doing perfectly fine. Lois, however… she's out in the mountains. The Sheriff's just sent a helicopter for her and Mom."

"WHAT? Lois in the mountains? Which mountains? Why didn't _you_ do something?"

"Richard… I can't explain right now… I'm phoning from the Sheriff's office in Leadville, Colorado, and I currently don't have my… special vision to determine if they're recording the phone conversations. I wouldn't want to risk talking about certain… secrets on the phone."

"Uh… okay. But I expect you to explain everything when we meet tomorrow, because I'm going there right away! I mean… is there a lake or anything I can land on?"

"I saw a very small lake, more of a pond, near the village. Come as quick as you can. Your family needs you."

"Me? My _family_?" The other man's voice sounded bitter.

"Yes, Richard," Clark said heavily. "You. You are Lois's fiancé, and you are Jason's father."

"Er… Clark? Do you remember…?"

"Yes, Richard. I remember everything. And I know of Jason's paternity. But it doesn't matter now. We'll be waiting for you… and… thank you."

Feeling as though a heavy weight had settled on his chest, Clark slipped the receiver back into its place, and sank onto the chair next to Jason's, burying his face into his hands. A small sob escaped his lips, but apart from that, he cried silently, only his shoulders' shaking being a telltale sign of his crying. Suddenly he felt a gentle, warm touch on his arm and looked up to meet his son's eyes.

"Why are you sad, Father?" Jason asked.

Clark shook his head. "I'm not…"

"Yes, you are. I can see it. Is something wrong with Mommy and Granny?"

"I… I hope not. The Sheriff's sending a chopper for them… They must be doing fine."

The child turned away, looking at the wall, but Clark knew his son was looking through it. "I can't see them. I think… they must be too far away." Jason looked positively disappointed.

"You're exhausted, Jason. Don't be surprised that you can't see everything." Clark pulled the child into his lap, rocking him gently. "You need some sunshine to get better and stronger."

"So do you," the boy perceived. "You look bad."

"Why, thank you," Clark tried to joke.

"But honestly. Your face is full of scratches, and that beard doesn't suit you at all. How did you get your glasses back?"

His father couldn't help but smile. "Kitty kept them safe for me."

"Miss Kitty… did she really… kill Mr. Luthor?"

"Yes, Jason. But don't think she's bad because she did it. She liked him… but she saved us all by killing him. She's a real heroine."

"I know that." The little boy nodded. "Mr. Luthor was bad. But Mr. Ross wasn't…" He sniffed. "I want Mommy."

Clark kissed his son on the forehead. "Mommy's going to be here soon."

"Then why are you sad?"

The man shook his head. "I'm just being silly, Jason. I shouldn't be sad. Everything's going to turn all right… and everything's going to be back to normal."

"What do you mean by nor-" He looked in the direction of the door. "Someone's coming."

"If it's the Sheriff, Jason, don't talk, especially not about who I am, okay?"

The boy nodded as a burly man with greyish hair and a small goatee entered. "Good afternoon, I'm Sheriff O'Connell."

"Good afternoon." Clark wanted to stand up, but the older man waved with a fatherly smile, signalling that he should remain seated with the child. "I'm Clark Kent, and this is Jason White."

"Hi." Jason waved at the Sheriff.

"I'd like to thank you for your help concerning the two ladies," Clark said.

"No need to thank, Mr. Kent," O'Connell replied. "Let's hope the ladies will be found safe and sound. But let me ask you a few questions… if you don't mind."

"Of course, ask away."

"Who kidnapped you, Mr. Kent, where, when and how?"

Clark took a deep breath. He didn't want to lie, but he knew he had to, for the greater good. "I'm a reporter of the Daily Planet, and so is my friend, Lois Lane. Jason is Lois's son. Lois and I were sent by our chief to find Superman and make an exclusive interview with him… You know, he had this amnesia, and Lois being close friends with him…" He sent the Sheriff a goofy smile. "So, our chief thought that if someone could do it, then it was Lois. We managed to find Superman, but Lex Luthor too managed to find us, and he had Kryptonite. I trust you know what kind of effect Kryptonite has on Superman..."

"Yes, I've heard," the Sheriff said with a contemplative expression, tugging at his goatee.

"So, Luthor kidnapped us all, along with my poor mother who was also present," _God forgive me for this blatant lie_, "and Lois's son."

"But why would Mr. Luthor kidnap Miss Lane's son?" the Sheriff wondered.

"In all honesty, I don't know." _Lucky I'm not like Pinocchio_… "That man was totally crazy. I think he might have thought that if he kidnapped a child as well, he could blackmail Superman or something… Ah, you know, Superman has this 'saving-everyone-thing', and he couldn't bear to see an innocent child suffer…"

"I understand that, but why Miss Lane's son of all children?"

_Am I really sweating? Dang it. Lying totally sucks_. "I think it's simply because Superman's only known friend is Miss Lane, and Luthor knew that if Superman saw Lois suffering because of her son's suffering, then… you get the idea."

The Sheriff nodded. "We're facing a psychopath here. Or… Did you just refer to Luthor in _past tense_?"

"Er… yes. He's dead."

"Dead? How did he die?"

Clark was about to reply that one of Luthor's goons had turned on his boss and shot him, when a female voice spoke up from the door: "I killed him."

He turned to see Kitty and Betsy Bones, Kitty holding Ripper and Betsy holding a stack of clothes for Jason.

"You killed him?" The Sheriff arched an eyebrow at the brunette. "Why, Miss…?"

"Kowalski. And simply because he wanted to kill Superman. I couldn't let that happen."

O'Connell looked at Clark. "Was this lady too kidnapped by Mr. Luthor?"

"No. I was his _girlfriend_," Kitty replied dryly, and, putting down Ripper, held out her wrists to the Sheriff. "You may shackle me. I won't put up resistance."

"I do not intend to shackle you, Miss Kowalski. Normally you would be charged and tried in the county the crime was committed in, but since there are federal warrants out on Mr. Luthor and his gang, I'm sure the FBI is going to get involved and take you anyway… Therefore, you will be transported to the city you live in and placed under arrest there, until your trial. Although…" He sent Kitty an almost-smile, "if you indeed killed your boyfriend to save _Superman_, you aren't likely to be sentenced. _If_ Superman can attest to your… innocence, of course. Where is he now?"

"No idea, Sheriff. He said he had to leave, because he wasn't feeling well. Kryptonite-poisoning or what…" Clark replied vaguely. "He said he couldn't even save Lois and my mother… he looked awfully guilty about it, though…"

"And where can we find Mr. Luthor's body?" asked the Sheriff. "We will need evidence."

"By the ruins of a cottage, under the snow. There was an avalanche," Kitty replied before Clark could. "About four hours' walk from here in the western direction. But you'll find three bodies there. One of Lex's goons was killed by the avalanche, the other was shot by me. He too wanted to kill Superman."

The Sheriff blinked at the young woman who was talking about having killed two people – one of whom had been her boyfriend – with as much calmness as he'd never seen from a murderer before. "The… the ruins of a cottage?" he stammered. "You mean that the avalanche ruined it?"

"Not exactly. There was an explosion," Clark explained, knowing that if there were an investigation, it would turn out that the cottage first blew up before it got flattened by the avalanche. "Luthor and his people were feeling cold and one of them sort of… broke into the house. The rest of us stayed outside, and that was our luck, because apparently that guy had trod upon a bottle of Nitro or something…" _My gosh, I so hate lying! And why couldn't Kitty hold her mouth? I would have given evidence that Ross killed Luthor and the other guy… Why did you do this, Kitty?_ He glanced at the woman whose face was impossible to read. As soon as their eyes met, she looked away.

"I see." The Sheriff nodded. "Thank you for answering my questions." He turned to Kitty. "Miss Kowalski, you are under arrest. Where do you live?"

"In Metropolis."

"Then you're going to be transported to Metropolis and handed over to the local authorities tomorrow. Mr. Kent… We have a small room over the office, you and the kid can spend the night there, hopefully with the other two ladies, and tomorrow-"

"A friend's coming for us tomorrow," Clark said quickly. "He has a seaplane. He said he'd arrive here sometime in the morning. Sheriff…"

"Yes?"

"Where will Miss Kowalski sleep? I hope not in the jail…"

The Sheriff knitted his eyebrows, thinking.

"I trust her," Clark told him. "So do Lois and my mother. Let her spend the night with us. If you lock the door, she can't escape… and I doubt she would anyway. She could have escaped a hundred times, but she came here instead and gave herself up. That means something, doesn't it?"

The Sheriff nodded. "All right. Besides… she couldn't really escape anywhere here. We're in the middle of nowhere."

Clark offered the older man a smile. "Thank you for your understanding, and for giving us accommodation too."

"No problem, Mr. Kent," Betsy chimed in with an angelic smile. "Do you need anything else?"

"Food!" Jason yelped. "Something with ketchup."

Clark couldn't stifle a chuckle. His favourite food was spaghetti Bolognese with lots of ketchup. Apparently his son had taken after him in this respect…

o O o

They were fed and watered, and Jason had put on his new clothes (as much as you can call hand-me-downs new), when the helicopter landed on the small square before the Sheriff's office.

"It's Mommy and Granny!" Jason squealed with delight and ran out of the small room they were occupying upstairs.

Clark's heart jolted, and he couldn't have told if that jolt was a happy-hopeful or a full-of-doubt one. He looked out the window to see that the chopper's rotors were slowing down and its door was opening to reveal a man, probably the deputy of Breckenridge's Sheriff. But were Lois and his mother inside that helicopter? Had Jason just assumed they were there, or had he seen them through the wall and the helicopter's metal shell?

Then, the man who'd just got out the chopper, held out his hand for someone. First the hand, then the whole arm, then the head of an old lady emerged from the chopper, and Clark felt that at least half the weight was off his heart. His mother was alive, and seemingly doing well.

In the next instant he heard his son shout 'Mommy!', and the little boy flung himself at the next figure emerging from the helicopter.

That was when Clark realised he'd been holding his breath. He exhaled, feeling that the whole room was reeling around him. They were alive and fine. Both of them. He had to lean against the window frame, he felt so weak all of a sudden.

"You okay, Clark?" Kitty asked, squeezing his shoulder.

Feeling that his voice had completely failed him, he nodded.

"Then go and greet them." She nudged him with a smile. "If you can walk at all. You look like someone who's going to faint. Shall I help you walk down?"

He shook his head. "N…no, thanks. I think I can go alone."

o

Kitty watched as Clark staggered out of the building, closing his mother into his arms. By the looks of it, Mama Kent appeared to be in a better shape than her son, and it was her who was supporting him not vice versa.

_Superman, Superman… you can be such a softie_, Kitty thought as Clark buried his face into his mother's wispy hair, clinging to her like a little boy would. Then slowly he disentangled himself from Mama Kent's embrace, and his eyes met Lois's, who had already put Jason down. The very air seemed to vibrate between them, and, at that moment, Kitty felt she'd never been as jealous of anyone as of Lois Lane.

In the next instant, the lovers were kissing with more passion than Kitty had ever experienced with any of her former boyfriends. What shocked and amazed her was that there was not only passion in the kiss she was witnessing – there was desperation, a deep level of understanding… and perfection. Kitty had never truly loved anyone; she didn't understand what it was like. Perhaps, it was like Clark Kent and Lois Lane's love. And for that, she truly envied them.

o O o

Clark awoke on the sofa at the middle of the night, feeling slightly disoriented. He looked around, and his heart melted. His family was sleeping on the double bed, Lois's arms wound protectively around Jason. He couldn't imagine a more peaceful, more heart-warming picture. _His family._ It felt so good, and yet so painful to think of them as that. He wasn't supposed to have a family. Superheroes were destined to be lonely… weren't they?

For a moment he wished he could be selfish and claim what was rightfully his: Lois's love and Jason's parentage… But could he be so selfish as to take them from Richard, the man who deserved them more than he ever would? Could he be so selfish to expose his loved ones to more dangers because of his perilous 'job' as Superman?

He sighed.

He knew that he couldn't.

For a few moments he just revelled in the sight of his little family, then his eyes shifted to the other couch to see it was empty. He sat bolt upright. Kitty was gone.

Had she escaped? But where could she have gone? Out into the cold night, without having anywhere to go?

And then he heard it. A soft sniff, coming from the bathroom.

He got off the couch, shrugging off the blanket, and padded silently to the door, under which he could see a thin sliver of light.

Gently, he knocked, but no response came. "Katherine?" he asked, keeping his voice low, so as not to wake Lois, Jason and his mother.

"Go away. I'm… taking a shower," she replied in a shaky voice.

"It's around three a.m., and I can't hear the water running."

A short pause ensued, then she finally spoke. "Come in… if you want to."

Clark entered, and gently shut the door behind him.

Kitty was sitting on the rim of the bathtub, examining the tile floor with a face dirty with dried tears. She didn't even look up as he entered, not even when he took a place on the tub's rim next to her.

"I'm not going to ask if you're doing all right," he said, "as apparently you aren't. But I'm asking if… if I can help you somehow."

Still not meeting his eyes, she shook her head. "No one can help me… no one can save me from my stupid inner demons… not even freaking Superman."

He put an arm around her. "Perhaps it's not _freaking_ Superman you need now… but a friend. And Clark Kent is your friend. _I_ am your friend, Katherine."

Sniffing, she looked him in the eyes. "Why do you always have to be so damn… loveable so that one is capable of killing for you?" she whispered. "I never wanted to harm Lex. I loved him… in a weird sort of way. I wouldn't say I was _in love_ with him… he was evil and all… But… there was something I truly liked about him." She shook her head with a sarcastic grimace. "I bet you don't understand."

"Then you've already lost the bet, Katherine," he replied quietly. "Everyone has something loveable about them… I'm sure even Lex Luthor did."

New tears welled up in her eyes. "I killed him, Clark. And another man too… someone… someone I didn't even know! I'm a bloody murdereeeer!" Sobs broke out of her with such force that the only reasonable action Clark could take was to gather her into his arms, letting her bury her face into his chest, and starting to caress her dark brown tresses.

"Shhh… no one's blaming you, Katherine…"

Kitty pulled back, her eyes flashing. "But _I am_ blaming myself! When I did it… I didn't even fully register what I'd done! I've only just understood that Lex… Lex is gone. Foreveeeeer…" She again bent her head on his shoulder, crying into his already rumpled, dirty and torn shirt.

"You know, Katherine…" he began, resuming his gentle caresses, "sometimes… things need some time to sink in… Especially losses."

"But what… what will become of me now, Clark?" she whispered.

"I don't know. Had you not confessed to have killed them… We could have told them that Ross had killed them, and-"

"And that would've been a lie," she said. "Once I heard that Superman couldn't lie."

He made a grimace. "I'd rephrase it: I never lie unless it's absolutely necessary. I would have lied to save you from prison and trials, Katherine."

She produced a sad smile. "I know you would have. But I didn't want you to. Besides… I feel I need to… expiate for what I've done."

"Katherine…" He cupped her chin to make her look him in the eye. "You don't have to _expiate_ for anything. I know you're feeling guilty, but… you had no other choice. Sometimes, a hero has to choose between good and bad, and sometimes even between bad and worse. You chose 'bad' over 'worse', and you made the right decision… however bad it may be. And that makes you a heroine."

Kitty let out a small laugh. "I'm not a heroine, Clark."

"Yes, you are, and I'm eternally grateful to you for having saved me and my son, and through having saved us, you gave us a chance to save Lois and Mom too… and probably hundreds or thousands who would die in the future if I weren't around to save them. You're a world-saviour, Katherine, and I won't let a world-saviour be shut into jail."

Kitty frowned up at him. "What do you intend to do?"

He sent her a grin. "You'll see."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Nothing illegal, I hope?"

He pretended to look hurt. "Superman and illegal? That's unheard of!"

She playfully boxed him in the chest. "Just pulling your leg, Big Boy. It's fun."

"I can imagine that." He smirked. "You're lucky to have hit me while I'm not fully back to my super-self. Your hand would be hurting like hell if you punched Superman on an average day."

"Then maybe I shouldn't be punching you…" she whispered. "But can I kiss you… as a friend?"

He nodded.

She leaned closer, pecking his freshly shaven cheek, then pulled back a bit and touched her lips lightly to his. It was a quick and chaste kiss, and he was sure she was well aware that she couldn't expect any more of him than that.

"We should go to sleep," she whispered, standing up.

"Yes, we should." He sent her a smile. "But wash your face first."

"My, I must look a fright," she said, rolling her eyes.

He shook his head. "You're very pretty, Kitty. Some day someone will be happy to be your husband."

"Do you realise you've called me Kitty for the first time?"

"Have I?" He grinned, opening the door and slipping out of the bathroom.

o

Kitty turned on the tap and sprinkled her face with warm water, thinking that no one could utter 'Kitty' or 'Katherine' as beautifully as he could. And he was her friend. Despite the emptiness, fears and guilt she was feeling at the moment, the knowledge of having Clark Kent as her friend, filled her with some sort of warm comfort.

She looked at her mirror image and allowed herself a smile. She'd thought of him as Clark Kent. Not as Superman.

Drying her face with the towel, she couldn't help thinking how unfortunate it was that the whole world loved Superman for his heroism, and not for the warm-hearted, gentle person that he was. People didn't know what they were missing…

o O o

**A/N: if I weren't a die-hard Clois shipper, I'd be shipping Clark/Kitty. ;) But don't worry, I AM a die-hard Clois shipper.**

**Opinions? _hinthint-nudgenudge_**


	14. You Promised Me The Stars

**Thanks for the reviews on chapter 13 to: _Shado Librarian, mary-v, KirijamaScion, danielle, JamesTKent, htbthomas, mistressbabette51, mitzi67, mak5258, MsSupaFan, septempopuli, Rowja70, atlantiandragoness, The Kiss of Death, Nightlyeclipse, Miss Kryptonite, winddancer55945, AniJap, skykestrel, blightedmetal_**

**Chapter 14**

**You Promised Me The Stars**

"Take care, Kitty," Clark said, closing the woman into a brief hug. "And don't give up. I promised you something last night. I'm going to keep my promise."

Kitty silently nodded, and giving Lois, Martha and Jason a last glance, she got into the helicopter that would transport her to Metropolis.

"Are you sure you don't want to join?" the officer sitting in the chopper asked Clark. "I heard you all were from Metropolis."

"No, thanks."

The officer shrugged and shut the chopper's door.

Clark felt Lois slipping her hand into his as the helicopter took off. "Mom and I could've gone with them while you and Jason wait for Richard… partly because I really don't feel like facing Richard at the moment…" he said with a grimace, "but… I don't want to return to Metropolis yet."

"You want to go to Smallville, don't you?" she asked.

"I have to. I'm still pretty weak. I think I'm even coming down with a cold. It will take me weeks before I can even hover, let alone fly into the stratosphere for some unfiltered sunshine. I'll need to recuperate, and I can't think of any place better for that than the Kent farm… Besides, I don't even have an apartment in Metropolis yet." He coughed a bit and massaged his throat. He didn't remember ever having had a sore throat before. "Let's admit that being homeless in Metropolis isn't good for a sickly guy like me."

"You, sickly? Have you ever been sick before?"

He pulled a face. "I don't think so. Only when there was Kryptonite around. Do you think Betsy could give me some Halls drops?"

"I bet she'd give you _anything_." Lois evilly wriggled her eyebrows.

He scowled her. "So you noticed."

She rolled her eyes, chuckling. "I couldn't not notice it. She was practically devouring you with her eyes, and she was looking daggers at me when we kissed yesterday…"

"I didn't notice her looking daggers at you." He shrugged with a goofy smile. "I think I was… otherwise occupied."

"Mommy, Mommy, Daddy's plane's landing!" Jason yelped, pointing at the sky.

Lois and Clark looked up, but all they saw was a tiny dark dot in the distance. It was still too far away to tell that it was a seaplane, but Jason with his special vision had no problem making it out.

"Well… let's go and say good-bye, shall we?" Lois suggested, and the four of them walked back into the Sheriff's office. They thanked the Sheriff and Betsy for their help, and the Sheriff wished them a pleasant journey. They were just about to leave the building when Betsy called after them.

"You know what, Mr. Kent? You would have been a much better Superman than Dean Cain. You not only have the height and the build, but the proper eye-colour too."

"Er… re... really?" Clark stammered.

"Really really." She fluttered her eyelashes at him.

He let out a nervous laugh. "I'm sorry, but I don't intend to become an actor. I'm not particularly good at… pretending to be someone else. Good-bye, Miss Bones."

When they were far enough from the Sheriff's office, Jason took his father's hand. "I think you _could _be a great actor, Father. You fooled everyone but me."

"He's right, you know," Lois commented with a reproachful expression. "Either you were a great actor, or we were completely blind. I'd say the latter. Then again, Jason saw through your mask in an instant."

Clark shrugged. "You know what the fox told the Little Prince… _It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential, is invisible to the eye_. I guess children are unspoilt enough to see things with their heart."

"Who's the Little Prince?" asked Jason.

Clark bent and scooped up his son. "You're my little prince, Jason. Never forget that."

The child frowned at his father, as if not understanding the sadness in his eyes. How could he have known that in his mind's eye, Clark was already seeing himself drifting away from his family, observing them from a distance, longing to touch them, hold them, but knowing that they were out of his reach?

The tiny dot in the sky grew bigger and bigger, and now even Clark and Lois managed to make out the hydroplane's wings.

A few minutes later they reached the pond, and by that time, Richard was already climbing out of the plane, hopping into the water that reached to his knees, not caring that his feet got wet.

"Daddy!" Jason jumped down from Clark's arms and ran to Richard, who dropped to his knees on the shore, closing the little boy into his arms.

"Oh, Jason…"

Clark saw tears running down Richard's face, and he knew exactly what the other man was feeling right now – the same he had felt when he first held the boy in his arms after they had escaped from Luthor and the avalanche. He had told Richard the previous day on the phone that Jason was doing fine, but hearing it and seeing it with your own eyes were two completely different things.

Finally, Richard released the child and stepped to Lois. Clark saw Lois send her fiancé a faint little smile that carried all the insecurity and shame she must have felt at the moment. At least, Clark thought she _was_ feeling ashamed. She had, after all, deceived Richard for years, lying about Jason's paternity and her own feelings… and recently she'd even cheated on Richard… Clark knew that _he_, at least, would feel ashamed in her place. And truth be told, he _was_ feeling ashamed. He should have been strong enough to say 'no' that night in his cell… but he'd been too weak, both physically and emotionally. And for that, he couldn't forgive himself.

Despite everything he'd gone through, despite everything he'd learned in the past two weeks, Richard seemed to interpret Lois's smile as a smile of gratefulness and hope. Hope… that they could carry on with their relationship where they'd left off?

Clark felt his throat constrict, and this time not because of his nasty cold, but because of the sight of Lois in Richard's inviting arms, Richard's hands gently and reassuringly massaging her back as she hid her face in his shirt…

"It's okay, Lois… everything's okay…" Richard muttered into the woman's hair, and as he looked up, his eyes met Clark's.

"Thank you for coming, Richard."

"I've come for my family… Clark," the other man replied, his voice sounding icy. "But of course, you're also welcome in the plane. And the elderly lady too. Your mother, I trust?"

Clark nodded, dreading the conversation that awaited them. Embarrassed explanations, blatant lies and forced smiles. He had never been particularly good at rhetoric, and he knew he was even worse at lying. His whole life had been a huge lie, but at first, he had regarded it as a white lie, for the greater good: saving mankind from all kinds of dangers. Recently, however, he felt that his lies had turned dirty and unforgivable, ruining lives and breaking hearts.

Because of him, Richard and Lois might never be as happy together as they had been before. Because of him, Richard would never be able to look at Lois and believe a hundred percent that her heart truly belonged to him. Because of him, Lois could never look Richard in the eye and say 'I love you' without feeling ashamed. And because of him, Jason would never have a balanced childhood and a proper father figure.

He felt someone squeeze his arm, and saw it was his mother. "Come on, Clark. Let's get into the plane." He looked up from the ground he'd been examining to see that the little family White had already waded into the pond to climb into the plane.

With a heavy heart, he followed them, supporting his mother as much as he could, so that she wouldn't slip and fall in the knee-deep water. He would have scooped her up if he could, but he felt his strength wasn't enough for that. Carrying Jason's 40 lbs was one thing, but however small and fragile Martha Kent was, she still weighed three times as much as the child.

When they reached to the plane, Lois and Jason were already sitting inside, and Richard helped Martha climb in, then he gave Clark a cold glance and disappeared into the vehicle, leaving Clark to struggle out of the water on his own. Strangely, Clark found that he couldn't blame Richard. The other man regarded him as a rival, someone who could take everything from him that he held precious. And, he had to admit that he didn't like Richard any better than Richard liked him.

As he took a place next to the window and watched as the houses of Leadville turned into matchboxes below, he heard Lois tell her fiancé, "We've got to make a detour to Smallville. Clark and Martha would like to go home."

"All right," Richard replied in a tired voice. "The fuel wouldn't have lasted back to Metropolis anyway… I hope this Smallville is big enough to have a gas station…"

Clark felt like snapping at the city slicker idiot that life existed outside Metropolis and there was no need for talking about small towns in such a patronising tone, but he held back. After all, the 'city slicker idiot' had come for them, and even allowed him, Superman, travel on his plane.

With a sigh, Clark sank back onto the seat and listened to Lois filling Richard in on the details of their kidnapping. As the previous evening Lois had been told everything about Luthor's death and Kitty's heroism, she managed to retell the whole story without Clark having to add anything. He thought he heard her voice tremble when she reached the night of their escape from the Luthor villa. Although Lois was facing away from him, in his mind's eye Clark saw her cheeks flush as she talked about Kitty's involvement in freeing them, leaving certain things conveniently out of her story.

Grateful that he wasn't questioned by Richard and that Richard seemed to accept everything his fiancée had told him, Clark drifted off to sleep.

o O o

"Lucky that Smallville has a lake too," Lois perceived as Richard landed the seaplane. "Hey, Sleepyhead, wake up."

"Huh?" Clark opened his eyes, stifled a yawn and looked around. In the distance he spotted the familiar houses of his hometown. The sunrays' angle suggested it was early in the afternoon, and the cornfields surroundings the lake shone green and yellow in the sunshine, their sight warming his heart a bit. "Ah. We've arrived. Well… thank you very much, Richard… Um… would you, Lois and Jason like to spend some time with us on the farm? Get refreshed, have lunch… you could even sleep over. I'm sure you need it, Richard. You must've been flying for almost a day."

Judging by Richard's expression, he didn't want to stay at the Kent farm, but Lois put a hand on his arm, squeezing it gently. "Clark is right, Richard. You look awfully tired. We should really go to the farm… that is to say," she glanced at Martha, "if you don't mind."

The old woman smiled at her in a motherly way. "Of course I don't mind, dear. I'd be more than happy to have you around, even if only for a short while. And I'm sure Jason will like it on the farm, Clark could show him the chickens and Shelby…"

Richard's eyes narrowed at the suggestion of _Clark_ showing Jason around, _Clark _spending time with Jason… But he had to admit he was indeed tired and needed some rest. "All right, thanks for the invitation, Mrs. Kent." He deliberately hadn't thanked _Clark_, even though it had been _him_ who had invited them in the first place. "But careful with the animals. Jason is allergic to them."

"Am not, Daddy. I've outgrown all my allergies! I no longer get rashes when I eat things I wasn't allowed to eat earlier, and I don't get a runny nose either when plants are around… there were lots of plants in the forest, many flowers too, and I had no problems with them," Jason said proudly just as Clark sneezed. "What are _you_ allergic to?"

Clark shook his head. "Nothing… outside Kryptonite. It's just the cold."

Richard forced a smile on his face. "No allergies, Jason? That's great."

"Yeah, isn't it?" Jason beamed. "I've become pretty strong, you know… I can lift wooden girders and metal-framed beds, and I can run so fast you only see a blur!"

Richard gulped. "Wow, Jason… that's truly… something."

"And that's not everything! I can see through walls and hear things that happen miiiiles away. I can hear for example that your heart's beating real fast, Daddy. Is something wrong? Are you nervous?"

The man shook his head. "No, Jason. I'm really… proud of you." Richard's eyes met Clark's, and Clark thought he'd never seen someone looking so dejected.

Seeing the awkward glances the two young men were exchanging, Martha decided to speak up. "Let's go, shall we? If we hurry, we can have lunch in about an hour. I trust you're all hungry, aren't you?"

"Very!" Jason replied. "Do you have tomatoes? Or at least ketchup?"

"What about some spaghetti Bolognese?" his grandmother suggested.

"Cool!" The little boy clasped his hands.

"It's Clark's favourite meal too," Martha said, taking the child by the hand and leading him to the plane's door.

Clark glanced at Richard to see a grimace spread on his face. He gave the other man an apologetic look as he fished for a handkerchief in his pocket and blew his nose. "Ah…a lot of people like ketchup. It's not like…"

"No need for explanations, Clark." Richard shook his head. "Does… does he know?" He whispered, looking at Jason, who was busy opening the seaplane's heavy door.

"Yes," came the equally silent reply. "He knows everything."

"What do I know?" Jason turned around.

Richard blinked in surprise.

"Super-hearing." Clark shrugged, sniffing. How he hated this stupid cold!

"You were talking about me, weren't you?" Jason asked. "What do I know?"

"That you're… my son," Clark said with an embarrassed smile.

"Of course I know!" Jason grinned back. "But I'm also Daddy's son!" He ran up to the two men, and took Clark's right hand and Richard's left. "I have the two best daddies in the world! Don't I, Mommy?"

Lois glanced at Jason's 'two daddies', and found that the looks on their faces were priceless. Fighting back a chuckle, she sent her son a loving smile. "Yes, honey, you do."

o O o

Lois didn't know how long she'd been lying awake next to Richard – half an hour? An hour? Two hours? She'd been listening to his breathing, wishing it would finally turn rhythmic enough to suggest he'd fallen asleep. It must have been at least midnight when she was perfectly sure her fiancé was finally asleep.

Careful not to wake him, she slid out of the bed and tiptoed to the door. Thankful that the guestroom's door didn't creak at all, she closed it behind her and headed for the adjacent room – Clark's. She badly needed to talk to him in private, and she didn't know if she'd have another chance before she, Jason and Richard left for Metropolis.

Lois pressed her ear on the door, but this time she didn't hear the soft rumble she'd heard coming from his room last time she'd slept in this house. Silently, she pushed the handle and entered.

"Clark?" she whispered into the darkness, but no one replied – there wasn't even an annoyed groan meaning that she was disturbing his slumber. "Clark?"

Lois felt around the doorframe for a switch. In an instant the room was bathed in light, and there was no trace of the man she was looking for. Disappointed, Lois turned off the light, wondering where he could be and what he could be doing when he was supposed to be sleeping and healing.

Then she saw the glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. Of course! When they were on the run from Luthor's goons, Martha had told her that she and her husband Jonathan had often found little Clark outside on starry nights, staring at the sky.

Lois quietly closed Clark's door and headed downstairs. She smiled to herself as she passed by Martha's room – her little boy was sleeping there with his granny, given that the only two rooms in the house with a double bed were Martha's and the guestroom. Besides, when Jason had insisted that he wanted to sleep in 'Father's room, Martha explained to him that Clark needed rest in order to heal and that Clark's bed was simply too small for two people. Lois had seen a flash of pain in Richard's eyes when the little boy had insisted on sleeping in '_Father's_ bed, but Richard had been tactful enough not to comment.

She walked across the kitchen, to the front door, and left the house. The cool night air made her shiver in the nightdress Martha had kindly lent her. Even though there was only one single lamp on the porch to provide some light, she managed to spot a hunched figure sitting on the fence, facing away from the house.

As she approached him, her slippers – also lent to her by Martha – soaked through in the dewy grass.

"The starry sky's truly beautiful," she said, making Clark jump and fall off the fence.

"Good grief, Lois, don't that again, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" he chuckled, climbing back onto his perch.

"It's payback time," she laughed lightly, joining him on the fence. "You kept doing the same to me."

"I was amnesiac then," he replied. "I didn't remember how to appear in a way that doesn't give someone a heart attack."

"I know… but your amnesia belongs to the past, thank heaven. I'm just wondering… what about our future?"

"_Our_ future?" he asked in a hoarse voice. "What do you mean by that?"

She reached out and grabbed his right hand, as much as she could see where it was in the darkness. "What do you think I mean by that?"

He covered her hand with his left, sandwiching her small hand between his big and warm ones. For a minute he didn't speak, just caressed the back of her hand with his thumb. "You're wearing an engagement ring, Lois," he said finally.

She looked up at him, even though she didn't see anything of him but his silhouette. "I would give it back any time… if you just said the words."

"What words, Lois?" he asked heavily.

"Three very simple words, Clark: _I love you_."

He swallowed hard. "Lois… it's… it's not that easy. You know I love you… more than anything… but I can't be with you… like that. I could never be a proper husband and father. Richard can. With me, your and Jason's life would be in constant danger."

"Jason can take care of himself," Lois replied, her voice sounding a bit sharper than usual. "He's strong, he even saved you from a black bear, for heaven's sake! But his powers haven't yet fully developed. He needs his father's guidance to properly control them."

"Lois… I _will be_ there for him to teach him… but I can't be more to him than… a mentor."

"You're his father!" she snapped.

The movement of his silhouette suggested he was shaking his head. "The fact that the… sperm comes from me, doesn't make me his father. I have no right to him, Lois. Richard does."

"But Jason already regards you as his father!"

"I know… and you have no idea what a wonderful feeling it is to know that he thinks of me as that…" Although Lois couldn't see his features, she imagined he was smiling sadly. "It is an amazing feeling… but I can't ruin the life you and Richard built for him. For a child, _that _is a safe life. Jason needs an anchor… something I can never be for him."

"And what… what about me?" Lois whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

Clark heaved a sigh. "You have always been and will always be the only woman I ever loved. And that's why I have to give up on you. It's the best for all of us."

Lois slipped her hand out of his. "Is this your final word?"

"It is."

Now tears were freely running down Lois's cheeks. What an idiot she had been to expect that amnesia, fatherhood and the trials they'd gone through together would change his opinion and make him less damn selfless! Apparently, there was no power on Earth to persuade Clark freaking Kent that he could be himself with a family, and not only lonely-wolf-Superman… Some things never change. Clark's sense of responsibility for humankind and for his loved ones didn't either.

He'd made three big mistakes in his life – first affording himself to be happy with Lois, then giving up on her and wiping her memories, finally, leaving her and humankind behind in a futile attempt to find people of his own kind. All his life, he had been a thoughtful person, only in these three cases had he acted irresponsible… and he didn't seem to ever forgive himself for what he'd done. And now, he was punishing her and her son for his own irresponsibility. Life wasn't fair. Far from it.

"I understand," she whispered, wondering if he'd heard her heart break into a million pieces. "But you're not escaping me that easily, Clark Kent."

He took a deep breath to reply, to _protest_, but she continued before he could: "You made me a promise."

"Er… what?"

She sniffed, recalling a happy memory of him holding her hands, gushing about the beauty of the stars. "By Niagara Falls… you promised to teach me the constellations. Will you?"

His voice had never sounded as gentle as when he replied, "Gladly."

o O o

Richard awoke late in the night to not find Lois next to himself. His heart sank at the thought that she might be in the adjacent bedroom, sleeping in Clark Kent's arms. But surely… she wouldn't sink so low as to cheat on him when he's sleeping in the neighbouring bedroom?

Deciding that he didn't want to see Lois in bloody Superman's arms, he walked to the window. He badly needed some fresh air to get rid of the disturbing thoughts. He opened the windowpanes and stared out into the darkness. He managed to make out the outlines of the barn, Martha Kent's van and two figures huddled together on the fence. His throat constricted at the sight. The smaller figure's head was bent on the bigger one's shoulder, and the bigger one was pointing at the sky. Well, at least they weren't _sleeping_ in the adjacent bedroom… but seeing them together still hurt Richard. A lot.

o O o

"Pegasus? The winged horse?"

"Yes, there, that rectangle under Andromeda. And that cute little trapezoid over there is Pegasus's little brother, Equuleus. It means 'foal'."

Lois chuckled. "It's amazing how many shapes and stories there are in the stars. I never would have thought astronomy was so interesting."

"Jason thought it was amazing too. I told him a story about Andromeda's family and he made me promise to tell him more stories from Greek mythology."

"And you will… won't you?"

"If you don't mind me taking him sometimes… I mean, outside our so called 'training sessions'…"

"Of course I don't mind. He can even sleep at your place."

"_When_ I find a place in Metropolis," he replied, his voice a tad sarcastic.

"What do you intend to teach him first?" she asked, rubbing her arms in the cold night air.

Noticing her discomfort, he put an arm around her, warming her as much as he could without his ability to transfer body heat the 'super-way'. "I think… he first needs to control his X-ray vision and super-hearing."

"What is there to control in X-ray vision?"

"Uh, you know… if you can't control what you want to see through… then you can see through everything."

She pulled back a bit in surprise. "You mean my son… our son, can see through our clothes, and-"

"Yes, everything. He said he didn't like what he'd seen under Luthor's clothes… but he found his Mommy really pretty under her clothes. I can understand that."

"Clark!" she said, trying to sound scandalised, but she didn't really manage.

"Er, well, Lois… you needed to know this… you know, in case you and Richard wanted to… get intimate… before I returned to Metropolis to train Jason… Gee, that's so awkward… My point is that you two should be… considerate."

_Considerate_. His earlier words of rejection had stabbed a dagger in her heart, and now his speaking about her and Richard getting intimate gave her the coup the grace. She felt completely ruined. "Don't worry, Clark. We are going to be _considerate_," she whispered. "Thank heaven that Jason didn't see _us_ when we were-"

For some mysterious reason a coughing bout came over Clark.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yes… _cough_… yes, just…" He turned away from her.

"Clark Kent. You're not telling me something."

"Is it that obvious?" He sniffed, pulling his handkerchief out of his pocket and dabbing at his nose.

"Yeah. Funny that I didn't notice earlier just _how obvious_ it was whenever you were lying or hiding something."

He heaved a sigh. "All right, Lois. I didn't want to tell you, but you deserve to know… Jason did see us that night."

She gasped. "He didn't!"

"Yes, he did."

"Oh, my gosh. My poor baby, what must he be thinking of us now?"

"Nothing bad, I promise. I sort of… explained things to him."

"What, the birds and the bees?" she asked testily.

"No. He doesn't know how babies are made, if that's what you're wondering. All I told him was that you and me were making love, because we loved each other. And he accepted that. Of course, he doesn't know that what he'd seen us doing was… wrong in any way. He's just five and too innocent to comprehend that, bless him."

"Did it feel… _wrong_ to you?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"It felt anything but wrong, Lois… but you know that from a certain point of view, it _was_ wrong. You cheated on Richard, and I let you do it. I feel totally crappy because of it… but I think… it was what saved my life. Your love, Lois."

"And you still want to give up on it," she said incredulously.

"I have to," he muttered under his breath. "We should be going back or you'll catch a cold too."

She nodded and climbed off the fence, onto the wet grass, shivering. October nights in Metropolis were never as cold as they were here.

"Clark…"

"Yes, Lois?"

"Do I get a good-bye kiss?"

"I have a cold, Lois."

"I don't care," she said defiantly.

"Are you sure?"

"To hell with the germs, just kiss me!"

"My stubborn vixen…" He cupped her face, running his thumbs up and down her cheeks in a gentle caressing motion. "Never change, Lois. Stay always like this. This is how I love you. This is how I want to remember you." He bent and touched his lips to hers. She melted into the kiss, slipping her arms around his neck, clinging to him as for dear life. If this was her last chance to kiss him, she wanted it to be memorable.

As his hands encircled her tiny waist, she felt a shiver run down her spine, but this time it wasn't a shiver due to cold. She was feeling warm, electrified, excited. Richard's kisses had never managed to arouse her like this, to make her lose her head, go mad with desire… and Richard never managed to make her feel abandoned, deprived and lonely when he pulled away. Clark Kent – Superman – always managed to make her feel like that. And it was wrong. It was unfair. It was sheer torture for which she wanted to take revenge.

Not letting him to pull back first, she broke the kiss, gasping for breath.

"_This_ is how _I _want you to remember me," she said firmly, then turned on her heels and hurried into the house.

o

In the guest room, Richard quickly got back into bed, his stomach clenched painfully and his mouth as dry as a parchment. Lois had never kissed him as long as he'd just seen her kiss Clark bloody Kent. Ten seconds must have been his and Lois's record together. This kiss, however, must have lasted… what, three minutes?

He closed his eyes, willing his breathing to slow down to fool Lois into thinking he was fast asleep. He turned in the direction of the window, facing away from Lois's abandoned pillow and blanket.

As she climbed into the bed next to him, a single tear ran down Richard's face. He didn't know that as soon as her head hit the pillow, tears began running down hers as well.

o O o

**Um… review?**


	15. Have I Screwed It Up? Again?

**A/N: again, I'm ignoring the fact that in the _Smallville _series Smallville is a one-hour drive from Metropolis. In my fic, Smallville is in Kansas while Metropolis is on the east coast like New York (based on SR, in which it WAS obviously on the east coast). Therefore, there _is_ one hour time difference between Smallville and Metropolis (looked up the times zones ;)**

**Since ffnet strips all email-formats I wanted to insert into the text of this chapter, I had to resort to writing the email addresses in a rather weird way – you'll see how.**

**Thanks to those who reviewed chapter 14: _JamesTKent, Anon, mak5258, Jedi X-Man Serena Kenobi, Nightlyeclipse, atlantiandragoness, dragon-warlord, Miss Kryptonite, Reena Lin, MsSupaFan, septempopuli, mary-v, winddancer55945, mistressbabette51, KirijamaScion, Halfpastdead001_**

**Chapter 15**

**Have I Screwed It Up? Again?**

Lois walked down the stairs, rubbing her eyes. The kitchen was filled with sunshine and she could hear birds chirping outside – something that was rare in Metropolis.

"Slept well, dear?" Martha greeted her with a motherly smile.

"Uh… more or less," Lois yawned. "Good morning, Martha. Are you… making breakfast already?"

The old woman was frying eggs and a pot of hot water was boiling on the stove. "Naturally, dear. As I've mentioned, Clark always gets up early and claims to be dying of hunger. Boys will be boys," she chuckled. "I bet Jason will be just like him."

Lois smiled. "The amount my little munchkin ate for dinner yesterday almost scared me."

"Get used to it, Lois. He's a boy, after all, and a healthy one."

"Thank heaven… a healthy one." The younger woman nodded. "You have no idea what Richard and I went through in these five years with Jason always being sick, so much weaker than the average…"

"I do have an idea, dear. Not about the sick part, but… I know what it's like to raise a son who's different. It was never easy with Clark… but he's been a blessing. Jason is a blessing too… and not only for you or Richard… for Clark as well." Martha heaved a sigh as she began taking plates out of the cupboard. "He never even hoped to have a family, Lois… and now that he has one… he must be overwhelmed."

"Overwhelmed?" Lois snorted. "He's so overwhelmed that he turned me down. Again."

Martha almost dropped the plates. "He did _what_?"

The young woman shook her head in disbelief. "You know, the usual rubbish: he's a superhero and his lifestyle would endanger Jason's and my life." Folding her arms, she stared out the window. "I tried to make him come to his senses, but… he's as stubborn as a mule. I still have some dignity left, Martha. I asked him once. Twice. I'm not doing it again. I will respect his decision. Richard loves me… and he's a wonderful father to Jason. We're going to be happy together."

Martha watched as the younger woman's lips trembled in a way that suggested she was on the verge of tears, but she was valiantly fighting them back.

"Breakfast is ready, Lois. Go, wake up your son."

Lois headed for Martha's room, but the old woman called after her. "He isn't in there."

"Where is he then?"

"The little tyke sneaked out of my room around four in the morning," Martha replied with impishly twinkling eyes. "You can guess where."

"Clark's room?"

Martha nodded, and Lois climbed the stairs, relieved to hear Richard's snores coming from the room they had shared the previous night. It would have been highly unpleasant if Richard had woken up and listened to the recent conversation between her and Martha.

She silently opened the door of Clark's room to be greeted by the most endearing sight: Clark lying on his back, Jason's head propped on his chest, their arms draped over each other's bodies. As he heard her enter, Clark squinted up at her sleepily. "Hi," he said with a gentle smile.

"How long have you been awake?" she asked, wishing she had a camera with herself. It was truly a Kodak moment.

"About ten minutes. Didn't want to move and wake him."

"How are you feeling? Your cold…?"

"A little better," he replied, as quietly as possible, glancing down at his son. "He's the best doctor ever."

Lois felt her throat constrict. Clark was so wonderful with Jason… and yet, he was giving up on the chance to be more than just a Sunday father. "Wake him up, Clark, breakfast is ready. I'm going to wake Richard." Tearing her eyes away from the heart-wrenchingly beautiful sight of father and son, she hurried out of the room.

o O o

After breakfast, Martha drove Richard into Smallville for a few cans of gasoline, leaving the little family on the farm.

Clark showed Jason both of his spaceships – the one in which he'd arrived to Earth as a child, and the one he'd used to return to Krypton. The little boy had been truly fascinated with both and even insisted that his father let him sit in the smaller ship. For a while he played captain of the tiny spacecraft, pretending to be shooting down imaginary TIE-fighters.

"Have you thought of what we should tell Perry about the missing Superman exclusive?" Lois asked some time later, as she and Clark watched Jason chase Shelby around the yard. "I mean… what **_I_** should tell him. After all, _you_ won't be around when I will be facing him for the first time…"

"Well, first… tell him that Clark Kent fell sick in the forest and is healing on his farm. Then tell him that Superman left to an unknown location to recuperate and isn't likely to return for weeks. Then write Perry an article on our latest adventures."

Lois's eyes widened. "About the kidnapping? The Kryptonite-torture chamber? Kitty's heroism? _Everything_?"

"_Almost_ everything, Lois. Leave out Jason's abilities and what… what happened between us… that night. But tell the rest. _Especially_ Kitty's heroism." He stared at the cornfields, his eyes distant. "I don't want to be made the hero of this adventure. I don't deserve it. But Kitty does. She's going to be tried for a double murder. I want everyone to know that what she did was truly heroic. Perry will get his bombastic article, and Kitty will get her named cleared. More or less. Naturally, it's the court that has the final word, but… you could _nudge them_ in the right direction. With your writing skills, Lois, you could work wonders."

She gave him a weak smile. "So, do I get permission from Superman to talk about him being tortured by Luthor and saved by Luthor's girlfriend?"

He nodded. "You're getting not only my permission, but _my request_ to do that. As for Jason… you can't fully leave out his involvement, I hope you know that…"

"I know. His name would come up in Kitty's trial for sure… I just have to convince the readers that Luthor merely kidnapped him to annoy me, and through my friendship to Superman, annoy him too. Do you think Kitty will manage to keep her mouth shut about Jason's parentage?"

"I'm sure she will. She's a clever woman, Lois. She may not look it, but she is. I talked to her before you and Mom were transported to the Sheriff's office and we discussed what she was allowed to tell the Metropolis Police and what she wasn't. And even if I hadn't told her these things, she still wouldn't give out a secret like this…"

"Because she loves you."

Clark sent her grimace. "I hope you don't want to mention that in the article."

She laughed lightly. "Don't worry, I'd never do that."

"Daddy and Granny are returning!" Jason announced, pointing at something beyond a thick wall of corn. Clark and Lois didn't yet spot the van, but obviously the child did without any problem. "Does this mean we're leaving now?" Jason added, looking sad.

"Yes, honey, we have to," his mother replied.

"Can't we stay a little longer? I like it here. Shelby's so cute, and Granny cooks wonderfully!"

Lois rolled her eyes. "Jason never fails to grab any opportunity to remind me that I can't cook."

"And Richard?" asked Clark.

"He can't either. We usually just grab some take-outs. Why, can _you _cook?"

"Quite well, actually. Mom taught me."

"Will you cook for me when you come back to Metropolis?" Jason asked. "Can you make spaghetti like Granny did?"

"I fear mine isn't as good as hers, but almost." Clark smiled at his son.

"And when are you coming back to Metropolis? I will soooo miss you!"

"I will miss you too, Son, but I can't promise to be back any time soon. I need to get perfectly healthy before I resume my work as Superman."

"And until then? Will you phone us every day?"

"Of course, I will, Jason."

As the van screeched to a halt before the house, the child flung himself at Clark with such force that they both almost fell. "Good-bye, Father," Jason muttered, hugging the man around the waist. "Love ya."

"Love you too, Son," Clark replied with watering eyes. "Take care of yourself and behave at school. Oh, and don't throw any of your mates across the classroom if they're annoying you."

Jason grinned up at his father. "I wouldn't. Reeeeally."

o O o

The next morning Clark intended to sleep in, but got awoken by the telephone ringing at six. His mother was outside, feeding the chickens, therefore she couldn't get back into the house quick enough.

Clark stumbled down the stairs, still half asleep. "Kent here," he muttered into the receiver.

"Hi, Father!" came an excited little voice.

"Jaaaason…"

"Are you yawning, Father? Have I woken you up?"

Clark squinted at the clock on the mantelpiece. "It's just six, Son."

"Six? It's seven here. How can it be six at your place?"

"Er, Jason… you know, there are time zones… never mind. Nice to hear your voice. How was the journey home?"

"Great, but we only arrived at Metropolis at ten p.m. I wanted to phone you right away, but Mommy said it was rude to phone someone at night so I wanted to talk to you before I went to school today. Uh, wait, Mommy's coming…"

Clark heard Lois say '_Who are you calling so early in the morning?'_ and Jason reply '_Just Father, Mommy. Guess what, it's only six at their place and he said something about time zones. Will you tell me in the evening what time zones are?' _

Lois replied '_Jason, honey, it's time to go to school. Tell Clark you're sorry for having disturbed him so early._'

"Mommy says I should tell you I'm sorry I disturbed you so early."

"You never disturb, Son."

"Cool." Jason turned away from the receiver to shout '_he says I never disturb!' _"I have to go now, Father. Take care and get well soon!"

o

"Father, guess what, Mommy talked to Great-uncle Perry today, and he didn't fire her! He didn't fire you either! Great, isn't it?"

"That's wonderful news, Jason."

"And that's not everything! Mommy's just finished that article about the kidnapping, and it's gonna get published tomorrow!"

"Then I'm going to buy tomorrow's Daily Planet by all means." Clark smiled to himself. "Er… say hello to Mommy and Richard for me, will you?"

"Ooookay. But I'll tell Mommy later. She's in bed now, asleep. She's come down with a nasty cold. Wonder where she's got it…"

o O o

"Well, Clark… what did you think of it?"

The young man looked up at his mother with a half-smile. "Of Lois's new Pulitzer-worthy article?" He glanced at the copy of the Daily Planet lying on the kitchen table. The headline said '_The Woman Who Saved Superman_'_ by Lois Lane_. "I liked it. Excellent, as everything she writes."

"I remember that article she got a Pulitzer for… well, _that _was excellent, in writing style at least," Martha replied, sitting down at the table, facing him. "This is _more than_ excellent, Clark. These two articles have one thing in common: they're both filled with emotions, but while that other one was dripping with malice, anger and pain, this one speaks of nothing but love. I trust you noticed it… didn't you?"

Clark gulped. Of course he'd noticed it. It was so damn obvious that it made his heart clench and his stomach flip-flop. Although it was an article centred on Kitty Kowalski, Lois had managed to squeeze in comments about _him_ wherever possible. In many respect, it seemed to be an apology-article for '_Why The World Doesn't Need Superman'_.

"Maybe," he replied, not meeting her eyes.

"Just maybe?" Martha's voice sounded harsher than usual. "I thought this was more than just a maybe…" She reached out for the newspaper and began reading out the article. "…_and even in the greatest pain, his eyes radiated nothing but serenity, nobleness and a resolution to not give up. He held out till the last moment, even when he knew he was dying. He did everything to keep us – Clark, Clark's mother, Jason and me – safe. And that was when I saw it in Kitty's eyes – respect for his inner strength. Respect for a man who was a hero even when he was physically weaker than any of us_." Martha looked up from the paper. "These are the words of a woman deeply in love… don't you think, Clark?"

He still didn't look at her, his eyes defiantly fixed on the tablecloth's patterns. "Do you think I did the wrong thing in turning her down?"

"I don't _think _so. I know."

He glanced at her, frowning. "It's not that easy for me, Mom. It never was."

"Because you didn't make it easy for yourself, Son."

Despite his physical weakness, he jumped up from the chair, turning away from her. "It's not me who didn't make it easy! It's Jor-El and Lara! _They_ said I couldn't live with a woman from Earth unless I became… like you all."

"Clark… you _are_ like us all. More than you'd think. Your Kryptonian parents wanted you to be a saviour, that's why they sent you here. But they also wanted you to be happy, I'm sure of that. And if Lois Lane is your happiness, then no deceased Kryptonians are supposed to be telling you whether to love her or not."

"They said what they said with a reason," Clark replied, his back still turned on her. "They knew that anyone I happened to love would be in danger because of who I am. And they were right. Lois loves me, and she's become a target more than once because of that. Jason's my son, and he became targeted too. And you, my mother, got kidnapped."

"But Lex Luthor is dead, Clark," Martha reminded him. "As is everyone else who knew that Clark Kent is Superman. Now I'm again just Clark Kent's mother, and therefore not important enough to kidnap. Lois could be just Clark Kent's wife, and Jason could be just Clark Kent's son. People would wonder at first why Lois had fallen for her colleague all of a sudden, but they would get used to it sooner or later… and as Clark Kent's family, they wouldn't be targeted by Superman's enemies. As long as the world thinks of Lois as Superman's possible girlfriend, she and her son could be hurt. But if the world sees them as Clark Kent's wife and son, no one will even think of kidnapping them again to get to Superman."

The young man turned around, his eyes full of sadness. "I never cease to admire your wisdom, Mom. But it's too late. I broke up with Lois…" He shook his head with a pained grimace. "Well, if there _was_ anything to break up… There never really was anything between her and me after I returned to Earth… I mean… nothing that actually had a chance to… develop into something more."

"Nothing, really?" Martha raised an eyebrow at her son. "I thought I saw a love-bite on your neck the day after we escaped from Luthor's villa…"

Clark flushed and automatically reached out to rub his neck.

"Don't worry, it's vanished already. Richard couldn't have seen it."

He glanced at his mother to see a mischievous grin on her face. "I shouldn't have let her do it, Mom. I feel dirty because of it."

"You probably do… but Lois didn't. When we were wandering in the mountains, separated from you and Jason, she said she was ready to leave Richard for you. She said that the more she thought of you, the more often you appeared in her mind's eyes as Clark, not as Superman… She said her infatuation with Superman belonged to the past, and her love for Clark was the future." Martha saw her son flinch at her words. "Oh, and she also mentioned what a great and gentle lover you were."

His eyebrows ran high on his forehead, disappearing under his bangs. "Did she talk about… _that_?"

Martha chuckled lightly. "More than once."

Clark gaped like a fish.

"Close your mouth, Son. It was just a bit of girl talk. And from what she said, it got clear to me that her fiancé never managed to make her feel like you did. You made her feel… my, how did she put it? _Giddy with ecstasy_?"

"Mother!" he said, scandalised.

Martha Kent just shrugged with an innocent smile. "I'm just trying to make you see that if you think she's going to be happy with Richard White, then you're wrong."

Clark swallowed hard. "I've really screwed it up, haven't I, Mom?"

She nodded. "But you still have a chance to put it right."

He took a few deep, calming breaths. "I… I have to think it over. I have loads of time to think about it… at least three weeks. I won't be able to fly any sooner than that."

"You could go back to Metropolis just as Clark Kent, you know," she said. "And Superman could return to Metropolis… a few weeks after Clark."

He shook his head. "I know myself enough, Mom, and I know that if I were in a big city where accidents and murder attempts are a daily occurrence, I would be too tempted to try and help… and if I'm not fully healed when I do, I could cause more harm than good. I can't risk that. Even like this, it's a torture to watch the news and see how many people died in the past few days just because I wasn't around to save them. And I'm starting to get my super-hearing back… I hear people cry for help… and it's tearing me apart that I can't fly to their rescue. But as long as I'm here on the farm, far from them, it's still… bearable."

Martha stood up, walked to him and pulled him gently in her arms. He returned the hug, thankful for her closeness. She always managed to calm the storms raging in his soul. The only other person to have a talent for that was Jason.

"Oh, Clark… don't be so hard on yourself. You must let yourself relax a bit and forget about others' troubles. Yes, the world does need you, but for a short while, it can survive without a hero."

"Sure it can." He smiled sadly. "The world survived wonderfully while I was away for five years, didn't it?" _And so did Lois_, he added in thought. "I'll go, fix dinner, shall I?"

o O o

"…and imagine, I got an A in gym! I climbed the rope the quickest of all my classmates, and the gym teacher said not even he could do it that quick! He even asked if my parents had force-fed me antibiotic stero…whatsis… I don't even know what that is…"

"Anabolic steroids," Clark chuckled into the phone.

"Yeah, that's the word for it!"

"I can imagine your teacher's reaction… but try and not overdo it, Jason. It's okay if you do the exercises well, but… try to hold back a bit. You mustn't show too much of your talents, or it's really going to be suspicious."

"But I don't know how to hold back, Father!"

Clark sighed. "I will really have to heal quick and go teach you these things, or we'll get into serious trouble."

"Then heal quick, it's so simple. I wanna see you again, and so does Mommy."

The young man's mouth suddenly went as dry as a parchment. "Did she… tell you that she wanted to see me?"

"Nope, but I know she does. She misses you as much as I do."

"I miss you too… both of you. How's Mommy doing?"

"She still has a cold, but she's better. Though she was really mad today because of some article that she didn't let me read. I only managed to read the headline before she took it from me. Father, what does 'seduce' mean?"

'_Jason, enough of this! Say good-bye to your father quick, then come, I've run you a bath_,' Clark heard Lois's voice through the receiver.

"Mommy says I've gotta go. Good night, Father. Love you."

"Good night, Son. Love you too."

After he put down the receiver, Clark entered the living room where his mother was watching a talk show. "Have you seen today's paper, Mom?"

The old woman seemed to cringe. "What? No."

"Mom. I know that look. And I know you went into Smallville today to pay the bills. You surely stopped by a newspaper kiosk…"

Martha heaved a sigh. "Oh, all right. I did see a newspaper… it wasn't the Planet, of course… the Planet wouldn't publish anything bad on Superman-"

"Except Lois's Pulitzer-winning article," he added bitterly. "Which paper was it, and what was in it? I need to know."

Martha got up from the couch, walked up to the shelf and pulled a copy of the Daily Star out from behind a stack of books. "I didn't want to show this to you until you were fully healed. I knew you'd want to… act on it… but I didn't want you to worry about it just yet."

Clark took the tabloid from her and sucked in his breath as he read the headline. _'Superman seduces his archenemy's girlfriend?'_

He quickly ran through the article, his face darkening by the second. "I should've known they'd make up something like this once they find out that Kitty saved me…" He dropped the newspaper on the couch. "You're right… the Planet wouldn't publish crap like this. The Planet's quite sensationalist, that's true, but it still wouldn't sink this low. And if it ever did, then I'd have a few words with Bruce Wayne."

"Bruce Wayne?"

"The Gotham millionaire who owns the paper. He knows not to mess with the 'S'."

o O o

Day after day, week after week passed, and more and more controversial news could be heard and read about Superman's alleged relationship to Katherine Kowalski. Clark felt as helpless as never – instead of going to Metropolis and refuting the rumours, he was stranded on the farm, not being able to do anything. He didn't dare imagine what poor Kitty could be going through because of him, and he even felt sorry for Lois, as article after article published by the Daily Star claimed that Superman had 'cheated on' her.

With every passing day, Clark tried harder and harder to fly, but for a while he could only hover, which frustrated him to no end. As long as he couldn't fly into the stratosphere, he couldn't get refilled with power, therefore he couldn't be Superman.

He talked with his son every evening, and occasionally even heard Lois's voice telling the child to end the conversation and go to bed, but it pained him that she never cared to talk to him. What he would have given if only for half a minute, she would have taken the receiver from Jason to ask how he, Clark, was doing… But he didn't want to ask Jason to call his mother to the phone. He didn't want to be a burden, and apparently Lois regarded him as one. Then again, he had to remind himself that it had been him who had rejected her for the second time. No wonder she didn't even want to talk to him…

He already feared how things would be between them at the Planet, having to meet each other every day, having to work together… And knowing Perry White, he would again and again pair them up, claiming that they were one hell of a team.

o O o

"How did it go?" Martha asked one night after Clark had returned from his exercises on the fields. He had deliberately tried flying at night only to make sure no one from the village would spot his laughable attempts to not crash into the ground.

"Much better," he gave her a forced smile. "I managed to fly up to about thirty feet and stay there for a few minutes. Some more days, and I will attempt to reach the stratosphere."

"That's great news, Clark… but I wonder why I have the feeling that your smile isn't genuine?"

"Because you know me too well, Mom."

"What's troubling you, Son? I mean… besides the Kitty Kowalski incident?"

He sank onto the couch with an exhausted expression. "When I talked to Jason tonight… I had a feeling he was hiding something. I asked him about Lois, and… I don't know… something's up, Mom. He wasn't telling me something. Lois must've told him not to tell me, whatever it is… You haven't heard anything new about Kitty's case, have you?"

"Not since those atrocious articles."

"Then it's something else. And I have a bad feeling about it, Mom…"

o O o

One week later, Clark Kent was standing in the elevator that took him up to the Daily Planet newsroom. A pair of ugly suitcases in both hands, his heart hammering in his ribcage, he waited for the door to ding. People around him paid him no attention, for which he was downright grateful. He blended into the crowd that swarmed out of the elevator car, revelling in being as unnoticeable as possible, therefore he felt downright startled when Jimmy shouted 'Ah, Claaaark!' at him from the end of the newsroom. He shuddered, dropped his suitcases and tripped over them.

Some heads turned in his direction, some didn't even look up, only Jimmy hurried to his help. "Welcome back, Clark!" He slapped his bespectacled friend on the back, only to massage his hand in the next second. "Ouch. I heard you were recuperating on the farm… been working out too?"

"A little…" Clark self-consciously pushed his glasses up on his nose and picked up his suitcases. "Hi, Jimmy. Nice to meet someone who actually welcomes me back…"

"I'm not the only one, Perry's been complaining about your absence for weeks, as for Lois…"

"Yes?" Clark asked quickly.

"Well… she mentioned you once in a while too… and tell you what… she seemed to be missing you. Funny that, I never noticed she missed you before… I mean, before you left for your five-year-long soul-searching mission… Has something happened between you in Luthor's Rocky Mountain hideaway?" The young photographer wriggled his eyebrows.

"Oh, for heaven's sake, Jimmy… we're just friends, Lois and I. But… you could say we're closer friends than we used to be before I left for five years."

"You must be closer, because she never even noticed you before that… not even as a friend."

"Geez, thanks, Jimmy."

The photographer shrugged, then glanced at Clark's suitcases. "Still no apartment?"

"No, unfortunately, I'm still looking for one."

"Then good news, my mother's aunt died two weeks ago and her apartment is to let. I mean… good news for you, not for Great-aunt Marcy…" Jimmy made a grimace. "I hope it's no problem for you that she died there…"

Clark couldn't help but grin. Jimmy really had a style. A dorky, sometimes annoying, but still loveable style. "Of course not. Thanks for the offer, Jimmy."

"No prob, old friend. Mom wanted to advertise it a while ago, but I was saving it for you. Oh, look," he pointed at something behind Clark's back, "Lois's coming!"

Clark whirled around, and his eyes met hers.

For a moment neither of them spoke. Then another moment passed, and they still didn't speak. Seconds were ticking by, and more and more people were looking up from their computers to watch the unusual sight of the two standing rooted to the spot and staring at each other as if mesmerised.

Finally Jimmy waved his hand before Clark's face. "Heeey, anybody home?"

The magic of the moment was broken. Clark shuddered and looked away, while Lois used the distraction to hurry to her desk and hide behind her computer.

Clark was grateful when Perry's voice boomed through the newsroom, ordering him into his office. Forcing himself to not think of Lois, he hurried into the chief's office.

Once Perry had given him his instructions (and, to Clark's great surprise, casually mentioned that his excellent articles had been sorely missed), Clark headed for his desk. In order to not wake even more suspicion, he didn't even look in Lois's direction.

Hour after hour went by, and Clark couldn't help occasionally glancing across the newsroom, and whenever he did, Lois happened to be looking in his direction, but as soon as he glanced at her, she looked away. _Can't help checking me out, can you, Miss Lane?_

Around eleven, Richard put in an appearance too, sent Clark a cold hello with a small nod, gave Lois a rather spectacular kiss, then grabbed some papers and left.

_A little too possessive, aren't we, Mr. White?_ Clark thought, wrinkling his nose. _But really. Smooching your girl before the rival in such a challenging way is not only rude, but downright infantile. _

Shortly before lunchtime, he thought the time had come, so he opened the Outlook Express and began typing.

-----

**From**: Clark Kent (ckent(at)dailyplanet. com)

**To:** Lois Lane (llane(at)dailyplanet. com)

**Subject**: We need to talk

Meet me at noon on the rooftop?

C.

------

The reply arrived in half a minute.

-----

**From**: Lois Lane (llane(at)dailyplanet. com)

**To**: Clark Kent (ckent(at)dailyplanet. com)

**Subject:** Re: We need to talk

What are you coming as? C or S?

L.

-----

Clark glanced at her across the newsroom to see sadness in her eyes. He quickly directed his attention back to the mailing program.

-----

**From:** Clark Kent (ckent(at)dailyplanet. com)

**To**: Lois Lane (llane(at)dailyplanet. com)

**Subject:** Re: We need to talk

What do you want me to come as?

C. (or S…)

-----

-----

**From:** Lois Lane (llane(at)dailyplanet. com)

**To:** Clark Kent (ckent(at)dailyplanet. com)

**Subject**: Re: We need to talk

I'm more comfortable with C. I'm off now. Wait for a couple of minutes to not wake suspicion, then come. Oh, and bring sandwiches. I'm dying of hunger.

L.

-----

o O o

By the time Clark reached up to the rooftop, Lois was waiting for him there, her eyes fixed on the skyscrapers around. "What took you so long?" she asked, not even turning to face him. Her hands were fiddling with the handle of her handbag in a nervous way. Usually, when she was nervous, she lit a cigarette, but not this time.

"What, no smoking?"

"I gave up."

"So quick?"

She shrugged, turning around and spotting a pair of hotdogs in his hands. "I just asked for a sandwich."

He gave her a goofy smile. "But your favourite is hotdog, and you can't get those in the Daily Planet building. Had to run a few rounds to get them… sorry about being late."

Her mouth involuntarily tucked into a smile. "You changed into the S-suit just to get me a hotdog?"

"You know I'd do anything for you."

She took the hotdog from him, but didn't start to eat it, just stared at the sausage poking out of it. "I know… Clark," she said, more to the hotdog than to him.

"Um, listen, Lois… I've been thinking. A lot. These four weeks I spent on the farm, I couldn't do anything else but think… And I've realised that I've… made a mistake. Well, not only one… too many… But perhaps… perhaps it's not too late to put them right."

She looked up from the hotdog. "What do you mean by that, Clark?"

He ran his fingers across his dark locks in frustration. "I… I love you, Lois. And need you. You… and Jason. But… I know I'm asking for too much, and too suddenly… so I think… maybe, we could take things slow… little steps."

"Little steps?" she echoed his words.

"Yeah. Like… spending some time together… the three of us. For example… there's going to be a pre-Christmas fair in Smallville in a month. The weekend of 2nd and 3rd December. Kids always love stuff like that. Maybe… we could go together… as a family?"

Lois bit into her lower lip and her eyes seemed to be watering. "I'm sorry, Clark… but that weekend Jason isn't free. He's… he's going to be the ring-bearer."

"The… the ring-bearer?"

She gulped. "Yes. At my wedding to his Daddy, Richard."

o O o

**A/N: for quick update: review!**


	16. Daddy and Father

**A/N: there's a picture I drew about Supes and Jason that sort of goes with this chapter. Check it out among the 'SR related links' in my ffnet profile! (quite a few Supes-related pics are linked there, if you have five minutes, check all of them out).**

**Again, I had to write the email addies in the same stupid way like in the previous chapter. Sorry about that, but ffnet would strip them if I wrote them in the normal way.**

**Thanks for the review on chapter 15 to: _htbthomas, atlantiandragoness, JJ the elusive, Shado Librarian, bluecatdevil, Super Saiyan Goku, Miss Kryptonite, G.A. Clive, Monica, Nightlyeclipse, septempopuli, Serilia, winddancer55945, mistressbabette51, mary-v, lauraart123, pyrokitty714, Reena Lin, sayrae3times, NiteAngel_**

**Chapter 16**

**Daddy and Father**

The hotdog fell out of Clark's hand and landed on the stone floor of the terrace with a soft squelching sound, ketchup dripping out of it in every direction. "We…wed… wedding to R…Richard?" he stammered, and Lois couldn't help thinking that in an instant, he'd turned from the 'almost charismatic Clark' back into the 'klutzy, bumbling Clark' she'd known for so many years.

Feeling a lump rise in her throat, she nodded. "Yes. Richard and I… finally decided… it was time to get married. Ours must have been one of the longest engagements in the history of mankind…" She looked down at her shoes for a few seconds, hoping that he'd react somehow, but as he didn't speak, she looked up to meet his eyes. "I… I'm sorry, Clark. You're late. Again."

Numbly, he nodded, his eyes still the size of saucers, radiating the same sadness you'd see in the eyes of a lost and lonely puppy. He bit into his lower lip and dug his hands into the oversized pockets of his outdated suit. "I understand. I don't know what I've been expecting…" He shook his head. "Not this, that's for sure, but… I shouldn't have thought you would wait for me forever… especially after what I told you on the farm. Mea culpa. It's all my fault. Forgive me, Lois, and… be very happy with Richard."

She shuddered in the cold autumn breeze. Tears welled up in her eyes, and instead of replying with a sad smile that was to be expected of her in a situation like this, she burst out. "Your fault? Exactly, your fault! And don't you dare look at me with those puppy eyes, making me feel pangs of remorse because of my decision! It was a **_good _**decision!"

"Of… of course it was," he mumbled, taken aback by her outburst.

She carried on with a fury that almost scared him. "I loved you all those years ago, but you left me! I built a life with Richard, then you came back to ruin it! You again gave me hope that we could be a couple, then you again ruined it! And then you've come back again and expect me to start it over again with you? You cheeky bastard, HOW DARE YOU?"

"Lois… I wasn't…"

"Yes, you were!" She stamped her foot, tears of fury running down her cheeks. The hotdog in her hand was completely squashed already. "_Little steps? Let's take it slowly?_ What was that if not a proposal to start over, eh?"

Reluctantly, he nodded. There was no use denying it.

"I thought so. But guess what, I'm not letting you ruin my life at the third time! I intend to be happy with Richard! Very – happy - indeed! Don't you… don't you dare ruin it again." Her voice trailed off, and her eyes were almost beseeching. "Promise me you won't."

His eyes seemed to water for a moment as he said, "I promise I won't."

"Okay. Right. Just remember your promise," she said, and hyperventilating, she leaned against the parapet to take a few calming breaths. Her throat constricted as she remembered a conversation between her and Richard two weeks earlier…

"_Lois…"_

"_Yes, Richard?"_

"_What's wrong, Lois?"_

"_Wrong, Richard?" she replied vaguely. "Nothing's wrong…"_

"_Honey, we've been back to Metropolis for two weeks, and everything's back to normal… except you. Is it because of… **him**? You simply can't get over him, can you?"_

"_Richard, please, I don't want to talk about him."_

"_Lois. I've been patient. I gave you two whole weeks to settle back into the usual rhythm, hoping that after a few days at work you'd be yourself again… but you're not. And it **is** because of him. Admit it."_

"_And what if I do?" she snapped. "What does it change? I'm trying to forget about him, Richard, and if you're bringing him up again and again, it's just not helping!"_

_He sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. "If he weren't Superman, I'd seriously beat the guy up for upsetting you so much… again."_

_She grimaced. "You'd better not try or your hand will be sorry. His whole body is like steel…"_

"_But only when you punch it… right?"_

_Lois knitted her eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?"_

"_I… I saw you two. That night, on the farm. The way you were kissing him… I only saw your silhouettes, but at that moment… he didn't seem to be like steel… more like… molten metal engulfing you."_

"_Wow, Richard. What a metaphor. You should write poems."_

"_I'm serious, Lois. You practically melted in his arms… And that was when I realised I'd lost you."_

"_Lost me?" She frowned up at him. "You haven't lost me, Richard. I'm still here, with you, and not with him on his bloody farm! What… what were you thinking? Were you maybe… **waiting** for me to break up with you?"_

_He nervously ran his hand across his hair. "I was sort of… expecting that, yeah."_

"_Well, then you were wrong! I don't intend to break up with you, Richard White!"_

_He smiled at her sadly. "But only because he pushed you away."_

_She shuddered, blinked, then looked away. "Heavens…" She hid her face in her palms. "Am I that cheap? You must really hate me."_

_He put an arm around her thin frame. "You're not cheap, Lois, and I could never hate you."_

_She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "Not even… not even if I told you that something… something happened between him and me… in Luthor's villa?"_

_He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "No, Lois."_

"_But Richard… I was unfaith-"_

_He gently pressed his index finger on her lips to silence her. "I don't care."_

"_What about Jason?" she asked, her eyes almost pleading him to blame her, to raise his voice with her at last... "**I lied** to you about Jason! I will never forgive myself for that…"_

_He cast his eyes down, examining the carpet. "I'm not saying it didn't hurt me to find out I wasn't his father… and find out from Clark and not you… For days I kept thinking about it, and… I think I understood why you didn't tell me. You wanted to keep your son safe, and as **my** son, he was safe. As Superman's, he isn't. I completely understand."_

_She gulped. "Do… do you?"_

_The man nodded. "And I still love Jason as my own. That will never change. He's my son, and you… you're the love of my life. I love you, Lois Lane, and if you can love me just a little bit… just one-tenth as much as you love **him**… then I'll be a happy man."_

"_Oh, Richard…" She buried her face into his shoulder. "You're too good for me. I don't… don't even deserve you…"_

_He bent his head and whispered into her hair, "If somebody doesn't deserve someone, then it's **him** who doesn't deserve you. You're a gem, Lois, a precious gem. And if he can't value you enough… then he doesn't deserve you."_

_She pulled back a bit, teardrops glistening on her eyelashes. "I was so happy with you before he returned… I want it back, Richard. I want our life back."_

"_You will, honey." He ran a thumb down the side of her face, wiping her tears away._

"_But he will be back again… and I will meet him every day…"_

"_You mean the temptation's going to be too big…" he concluded. "Perhaps… we could make it smaller."_

"_How?" She arched an eyebrow at him._

"_Marry me, Lois. When he sees you're my wife, not just my fiancée, he will stay away from you. At least, I hope so. I trust Superman to be honourable enough to leave a married woman alone. What do you say?"_

_She gulped. She doubted if her feelings for Superman – Clark – would change if she said the 'I do's to Richard, but the bond of matrimony might provide some kind of protection against… sin. Because, like it or not, when she'd slept with Clark in Luthor's villa, she had sinned against her fiancé. It mustn't happen, ever again._

"_All right, Richard. Let's get married. The sooner, the better."_

_The man's eyes lit up and he plastered his lips to hers. She tasted her own salty tears in the kiss, and as his hands began wandering down her back to undo the button and zipper on her skirt, she stiffened. "No, Richard… we mustn't."_

"_What? Why?"_

"_Because of Jason… as long as he isn't trained, he can see through the walls and see us…We have to wait for… for Clark to train him."_

"_Oh…" Richard's hands dropped and his eyes radiated disappointment. "All right. I can wait."_

_She presented him with a timid smile, but inside, she felt horribly ashamed. **Heavens, I never thought the day would come when my son's X-ray vision would be a good excuse to refuse Richard sex**…_

"Don't worry, I will remember my promise," Clark said, nervously fiddling with his glasses, pushing and pulling them up and down the bridge of his nose. "I wish you two… all the happiness in the world."

"Thank… thank you," Lois whispered, her voice weaker and weaker. Suddenly, she swayed, and if it weren't for Clark, she would have fallen.

"L…Lois? You okay?"

With closed eyes, she nodded. "Just… wedding nerves."

"Uh… are you sure? You're behaving a little… dunno. Weird?"

_Mood-swings, Superboy, bloody hormones_, she thought, as her mind raced back to four days earlier…

_It was already the third morning she had to rush into the bathroom and pray she'd reach the toilet before she got reacquainted with her dinner. The previous two mornings she had managed to run into the bathroom and get it over with before Richard woke up, but this time she wasn't that lucky._

_She flushed the toilet and turned around to walk to the basin when she found her fiancé leaning against the doorframe with a frown on his face._

_Lois gulped and felt another bout of sickness wash over her, but a few deep breaths took care of it. With eyes downcast, she stepped to the basin to wash her face, her hands trembling in the process. He knew. He surely knew! He must have put two and two together!_

_Lois spent as much time drying her face with the fluffy towel as possible, using the towel as a means of hiding herself from Richard._

"_Lois?" he asked, his voice unusually gentle._

_Shaking from head to toe, she lowered the towel from her face and glanced at him. He didn't look angry, not even shocked. Just sad._

"_Lois… am I right assuming that you're pregnant?"_

_That was when the first tears came. Silently, she nodded, raising the towel to her eyes to dry them. "I'm so… so sorry, Richard…"_

_The man shook his head and crossed the space between them, closing her into his arms. She wept into his pyjama top as he caressed her hair, trying to calm her._

_Finally, she pulled back, looking him in the eye. "If… if you want to break up the engagement now… I understand. We haven't… haven't announced the wedding date yet, so…"_

_He cupped her face and bent so that their noses were almost touching. "I have no intention to break up with you, Lois Lane."_

"_But… Richard… the baby… not yours…"_

_He heaved a sigh. "I love Jason, and he isn't mine either. I will love this one just as much. You are its mother, and that's enough for me to love it."_

_She swallowed hard, unable to comprehend how a man could love so unconditionally, so selflessly… In this respect, Richard was so much like Clark…_

_**Clark**. Her heart clenched at the thought of him. "What… what about… Clark?" she whispered._

_Richard made a grimace. "Well, he can come see both kids whenever he wants…"_

"_I don't want him to find out," she replied firmly._

"_But Lois… he isn't that thick… he can count. If the baby's born seven months after our wedding, he will know it's his. Besides… this one might have some of his… um… abilities too."_

_She nodded, sniffing. "At least… don't tell him before the wedding. I don't want him to try to… prevent it." **Or do I?** – she wondered. Of course, she still loved him and would always love him, but what about Richard? Richard accepted her knowing she loved another. He accepted her knowing she had a child with that other man and that she was again expecting a baby from that other man… Could she ever leave a man like this? _

_No, she couldn't. It wouldn't be fair. Richard didn't deserve to be left. She had been damn selfish to want to leave him in the first place… How could she have **ever **wanted to leave him?_

"_Don't worry, honey. I'm not going to tell him," he said. "But you know Jason mustn't find out till the wedding?"_

_She nodded. It had been hard enough to convince her son not to tell Clark about her impending wedding, but to convince him to not talk to his father about his future baby brother or sister would be even more difficult._

"Don't worry, Clark. It's just… there's been too much on my mind lately… I'm tired and snappish and-"

Clark held up a hand, his brows furrowed. He seemed to be listening to something. "There's trouble. A bank robbery, I think… People are shooting…" He quickly looked around to check if the coast was clear, and in a swirl of blue and red, he changed from his grey suit into his tights. "I've got to go."

Before she could reply, he was off, tearing through the air towards the bank that was being robbed.

o O o

As Richard got back to the newsroom, he spotted Lois exiting the elevator and heading for the ladies' room. There were half-dried streaks of tears on her cheeks, and he didn't even have to guess whom she must have met on the rooftop. His heart sank, and for a second he wondered if his fiancée would ever get over Superman. _Who are you kidding, Richard White?_

He entered his office and flopped down into his armchair, dazedly looking out into the newsroom without really taking in what was happening out there. He wished he could hate Superman, but it wasn't the hero's fault that Lois loved _him_, not her fiancé. Because Richard was completely aware that her heart belonged to Mr. Blue Tights-Red Speedo, as it had from the first moment she'd fallen into his arms from that helicopter.

After five minutes spent in a daze, Richard found that he was still staring out of his office into the newsroom. The elevator dinged open for the umpteenth time since he'd sunk into his armchair, but this time, he actually noticed the person stepping out of it. It was a haggard-looking, wind-swept Clark Kent who made a beeline for his desk and hid behind his computer.

The expression on Clark's face had been exactly the same that Richard had seen on Lois's, with the exception that Kent's eyes weren't bloodshot and puffy.

Forcing himself to not feel sorry for Clark bloody Kent, Richard turned his attention to his monitor, but he couldn't help noticing as Lois entered the newsroom and Clark immediately looked up. Their eyes locked for a moment, but even that one moment had been enough for Richard to want to kick something. Preferably Clark's shinbone. If only Clark weren't the 'Man of Steel'…

At that moment the Man of Steel opened his Outlook Express and began to type. A minute later Lois looked up with an unreadable expression, then turned her attention back to her computer.

Richard frowned. Were these two emailing each other?

o

-----

**From:** Clark Kent (ckent(at)dailyplanet. com)

**To**: Lois Lane (llane(at)dailyplanet. com)

**Subject:** Forgot to ask

May I spend some time with Jason one of these days?

C.

-----

-----

**From:** Lois Lane (llane(at)dailyplanet. com)

**To**: Clark Kent (ckent(at)dailyplanet. com)

**Subject:** Re: Forgot to ask

Of course you may. What about the weekend? You could take him from school on Friday and spend the whole weekend with him. He's been nagging me to go visit you on the farm for ages… He missed you a lot. Do you intend to start his training over the weekend? If yes, where? Do you have an apartment in Metropolis yet?

L.

P.S. sorry about my outburst on the roof. Things have been kind of hectic lately and taken their toll on me.

-----

Lois found it was so much easier to talk to Clark in emails than face to face…

-----

**From:** Clark Kent (ckent(at)dailyplanet. com)

**To:** Lois Lane (llane(at)dailyplanet. com)

**Subject:** Re: Forgot to ask

Don't apologise, Lois. Everyone can have a rough day.

As for your question, Jimmy found an apartment for me, but I intend to take Jason to the farm instead. Mom missed him too, and it's better to train him on the cornfields. There he can only ruin the corn ;) I'd hate to tell Jimmy that my exuberant son accidentally made a hole in the wall of his late Great-aunt Marcy's home… Besides, I really don't have money for the repairs…

C.

-----

-----

**From:** Lois Lane (llane(at)dailyplanet. com)

**To:** Clark Kent (ckent(at)dailyplanet. com)

**Subject:** Re: Forgot to ask

What, doesn't 'S' have insurance? ;)

L.

-----

Clark looked up and grinned at her. She couldn't help but return the grin.

-----

**From**: Clark Kent (ckent(at)dailyplanet. com)

**To:** Lois Lane (llane(at)dailyplanet. com)

**Subject**: Re: Forgot to ask

'S' never really needed any. Just to think what would have happened if I had had to stay in the hospital any longer… I would have had to sell my blue suit to be able to pay for the treatment. I guess some 'fans' would have been willing to pay a small fortune for my suit but Mom would have been angry with me if she had had to sew a new one. Of course, I could always wear my first suit, but I no longer like it, it's gone totally out of fashion :-S

Btw, I've made a little investigation. Luckily it turned out that the house Jason accidentally blew up had stood empty for years, its owner died long ago. Now imagine if we had had to pay the owner for the damages… Of course the avalanche was an act of nature, but the Nitro wasn't; and these prosecutors are capable of proving that you ruined things you never ruined… Speaking of prosecutors, when is Kitty's trial?

C.

-----

-----

**From:** Lois Lane (llane(at)dailyplanet. com)

**To:** Clark Kent (ckent(at)dailyplanet. com)

**Subject:** Re: Forgot to ask

16th November. Thankfully Jason and I haven't been called in to testify, because I wasn't even there by the blown-up cottage, and Kitty claimed that Jason had been unconscious when the murder happened. I'm really grateful to her for saving my baby from having to take part in an open trial. Jason's too young and innocent for something like that… :( But I heard Clark Kent and Superman have _both _been summoned to testify. I'm guessing you got your subpoena to the Kent farm, but of course, they called Superman in an open letter published in the Planet. I trust you've read that one too…

L.

P.S. I never knew you actually had a fashion sense. You've managed to hide it very well so far ;)

-----

-----

**From:** Clark Kent (ckent(at)dailyplanet. com)

**To:** Lois Lane (llane(at)dailyplanet. com)

**Subject:** Re: Forgot to ask

Yeah, read it. Lucky they don't know Superman's address to send the subpoena to… the poor guy would be swamped with fanmail ;)

Well, then, please talk about the weekend with Richard, and if he doesn't mind that I take Jason, then tell Jason's teacher that I'm picking him up on Friday. Oh, and don't look in my direction. Richard's been giving us funny looks for a while.

C.

P.S. I do have a fashion sense. Really.

-----

o O o

_Friday evening_

As he looked down at his sleeping son, Clark thought that perhaps, just perhaps his life wasn't a complete disaster. Yes, Lois was getting married to another man and he couldn't see his son as often as he'd wanted to, but every moment Jason was around filled him with enough energy to be able to take anything that fate happened to throw at him.

Jason stirred and opened his eyes. "What are you doin' here, Father?" he muttered.

Clark grinned to himself. He still wasn't used to having a son who could see in the dark. "Just… looking at you, Son. Did I wake you?"

"Nope. Must've been the crickets. They're too loud. I can never hear them in Metropolis… I mean… I couldn't hear them before, but lately I can."

"It's quite disturbing, isn't it… having to hear everything?"

"Yeah." Jason nodded, fidgeting a bit to be more comfortable in the Kent farm's guestroom bed. "But that's why you brought me here, isn't it? To teach me how to not hear and see everything when I don't want to?"

"Partly." Clark reached out and gently ran his hand across the boy's shaggy locks. "But partly because I simply wanted to be with you, and so did your Granny. We both love you very much."

"I love you too, Father. And Granny too. She's much nicer than my other Granny." The little boy pulled a face. "My other Granny always smells so… artif…acial."

"Artificial?"

"Yeah, that's the word. She smells like a ward in the hospital. Too clean. Like… Lysol or something. But this Granny smells nice. Like grass and flowers. Too bad your Daddy is dead, my other Grandpa can be real annoying. 'Course I like him, he's a general and everything, but he and Mommy fight a lot. I think he doesn't like Daddy much. He keeps saying Daddy isn't the right one for Mommy…" Jason sat up and looked very seriously at his father. "I don't think Daddy's the right one for Mommy either."

"What, Jason?" Clark blinked in surprise. He'd never expected to hear anything like that from his son.

The little boy made a pout. "Mommy isn't happy with Daddy. She used to be before… before the kidnapping. But she's been different since we got back to Metropolis. She's always sad. She's smiling a lot, but I can tell she's still sad. She just doesn't want me to see it. But I do. And it hurts me. I don't want Mommy to be sad. Daddy doesn't either. He loves her too, and Mommy loves Daddy, but… I guess not the same way she used to. Is it because of you? I don't really understand it… I just want Mommy to be happy again."

Clark pulled his son into his arms. "I want her happy too, Jason… but she said she was going to be happy with your Dad, so… let us hope that she will."

"And what if she won't?"

Clark sighed into his son's hair. "I seriously don't know, Jason."

"But you will come to the wedding, won't you?"

The young man pulled back a bit to see a serious look on the boy's face. The little one didn't know what he was asking of him. "I'm sorry, Jason… but I just can't."

"Why, do you have something planned for that day?"

"Uh, no, but…"

"Then come. Mommy will be happy to see you there."

Clark smiled sadly. "I doubt if she'd be happy to see me there."

"Why not?"

"Jason, it's late and we have a lot to do tomorrow…"

"Start my training?" Jason's eyes lit up, and he seemed to have forgotten about the wedding.

"Yes, Son, start your training."

"Cool! Will I get to fly? I so enjoyed when you flew me here! When will I get to fly on my own?"

"I fear you won't be flying for another few years."

"Yeeeears?" Jason whined. "But that's awfully long! I wanna fly, _now_!"

"Some day you surely will, but first we have to take care of your vision and hearing."

The child raised an eyebrow at his father. "No more seeing through people's clothes?"

"No more seeing through people's clothes. Unless you really want to," Clark said with a wink.

Jason wrinkled his nose. "I don't think I want to," he said with a yawn. "Seen enough. Got bored of 'em. Can you tell me a bedtime story? I can't fall asleep…"

"All right, what kind of bedtime story do you want to hear?"

"A Greek one," Jason replied with drooping eyelids. "You said you'd tell me loads of those."

"Okay…" Clark scratched his jaw, contemplating which Greek myth he should tell his son. "Well… if we were talking about flying… you need to know it's not always risk-free… There was, for example, Daedalus and Icarus…"

Jason listened to the tale in a half-slumber. By the time Clark finished the story, he was sure his little boy was fast asleep, but all of a sudden Jason spoke up: "Icarus was a dork to fly too close to the sun… I still don't think flying is dangerous. Besides… Icarus's father wasn't Superman. Mine is."

"Yeah, yours most definitely is," Clark chuckled. "Sleep now, Son."

"Ooookaaaay," Jason yawned.

Clark waited in silence until his little boy was asleep again, then kissed him on the forehead and left the room. _Kids and their ideas… Me, at Lois's wedding!_ He shook his head in disbelief. _There's no way I'm going…_

o O o

A few thousand miles away, Richard White awoke at one a.m. to find Lois's place in their bed empty.

He got up, put on his slippers and went looking for her. At first he thought she might be in the bathroom as she spent quite a bit of time there these days, but he found the bathroom empty. As he passed before Jason's room, he heard a noise. He pressed his ear on the door, and after a few seconds, his heart sank. Lois was in there, and she was crying.

In the evening, it had occurred to Richard to use the opportunity that Jason was away, and spend some 'quality time' with his fiancée, but she had looked too tired and distracted for any kind of intimacy. And now, she was sobbing in their son's room, and he had a very clear idea why.

She was getting married to him, but she loved Kent.

_Am I doing the right thing in marrying her?_ – he asked himself. _Sure, **she** had wanted to get our life back the way it had been before Mr. Wonderful waltzed back into it, but… it will never be the same, no matter what we do. And denying it is like sticking our heads into the sand. Lois may play a stubborn ostrich, but I can't… for her sake._

With a sigh, he tiptoed back into their room and tried to go back to sleep, but he simply couldn't. The digital clock on the nightstand showed four a.m. by the time Lois returned to their bed, and Richard pretended to be in a deep slumber. She needn't know he'd heard her cry. She had too much dignity to accept that she had been overheard sobbing her heart out for a man who was floating completely beyond her reach.

o O o

After two wonderful days spent on the farm, the time came for Clark and Jason to return to Metropolis. Jason claimed he wanted to stay, but his father was relentless.

"It's Monday tomorrow, and there's school for you," he said as he turned into his super-suit. "Besides, your Mommy and Daddy are missing you."

"Can I come next weekend?" Jason pleaded.

"Maybe, if your Mommy lets you."

"Cool, Granny, can you make spaghetti next weekend again?"

"Of course I can, Jason. With lots of ketchup." Martha smiled at the little boy and hugged him good-bye.

Clark kissed his mother on the cheek, then picked up his son and took off into the darkening sky.

On their way to Metropolis, Jason dozed off. _No wonder_, Clark thought as he watched his sleeping son, _he's been through a lot_…

In the past two days Jason had managed to learn to control his X-ray vision, though his super-hearing he still couldn't.

It was already dark when they touched down on the grass before 312, Riverside Drive. Jason's ears immediately registered the voices coming from the building. "Oh, no," he breathed. "Granny and Grandpa are over!"

"Lois's parents or Richard's?" his father asked as he changed back into Clark Kent.

"Mommy's. You know, the Granny who smells like Lysol, and the General."

Clark made a grimace. He didn't really feel like meeting Lois's parents at the moment. Come to think of it, it was highly likely that Lois's parents didn't even know he was Jason's father and that might lead to some really awkward questions… However, he couldn't just tell Jason to go into the house on his own without adult company…

He quickly scanned the house with his X-ray vision to find that Lois's mother and father were standing in the hall, still in their cloaks – they must have arrived just a few minutes ago. Apparently there was no chance of avoiding them. _Get a grip, Kent, you're Superman for crying out loud! And Superman doesn't get frightened by his ex-lover's parents… does he?_

"Come on, Son, let's face that General and Mrs. Lysol."

"You're not supposed to call her that," Jason giggled. "Just when no one else can hear it. Her name's Ella, by the way."

Clark took the boy by the hand and led him to the front door where Jason stood on tiptoes and buzzed the doorbell.

"Coming!" Father and son heard Lois's voice from inside. The door opened, and Clark found himself face to face with Lois, General Lane and his wife Ella.

"Er… good evening, Lois," he said with a goofy grin as he and Jason entered. "To you too, Mr. and Mrs. Lane. Er… I'm Clark Kent, Lois's colleague…"

"Lois, dear," her mother spoke up, "didn't you say Jason was with his father?"

"He was."

"But…" Ella said, "but…"

"Richard's with his uncle Perry, playing tennis," Lois replied with an embarrassed smile.

"But then…?" Her father stared at Clark and Jason.

"Uh… Dad…" Lois ran her hand across her wavy locks, "I guess I forgot to mention that Richard isn't Jason's biological father… Clark is."

"But Lois!" Ella said, scandalised. "What kind of behaviour is that? First Superman, then Richard, then… Mr. Kent?"

Lois rolled her eyes. "It was Superman first, _then_ Clark, _then_ Richard."

"Whatever," her father grunted. "You had a _fling _with your colleague. I'm deeply disappointed in you."

"Oh, General, please, don't blame Lois," Clark said with a would-be-smile. "Lois and I… we loved each other… we wanted to get married and everything, but… things happened and I had to leave…for a few years…" He shuffled his feet embarrassedly. "If anyone's at fault here, it's me."

"Right there you are, Clive." The General nodded with a grim expression.

"It's Clark, Dad. And it isn't his fault. At least… not _only _his. And may I remind you that we're talking about _Jason _here? I'd highly appreciate if we didn't talk about my sonas a _fault._ He's a blessing, aren't you, honey?" Lois crouched down and kissed her son on the cheek.

"I don't understand this." The child shook his head. "Why would I be a fault?"

Lois was spared the need to reply as the door opened to reveal a tired-looking Richard with a bag for a tennis-racket swinging on his shoulder.

The other man looked at Clark and acknowledged his presence with a nod, then greeted Lois's parents with a forced smile. It wasn't hard for Clark to notice that Richard didn't like his future father-in-law at all.

"Um, well… I've got to be going," Clark spoke up. "See you at the Planet tomorrow. Lois, Mrs. Lane, General, Richard, good night." He bent and gave Jason a hug. "Be a good boy, Jason."

"Only if you tell me more Greek stories next time."

"I will, Son." Clark ruffled the child's hair.

"Father told me about Heracles," Jason announced proudly. "Heracles was almost as strong as Superman… but Superman's still better 'cause Heracles couldn't fly. Superman is better than Deadalus and Icarus too, 'cause they needed waxed wings to fly and Superman doesn't. I love Father's stories…" He slipped his tiny hand into Clark's and beamed at Sam Lane. "Isn't my father cool, Grandpa?" He glanced at Richard and quickly added: "I think both Daddy and Father are cool. Aren't they?"

The look on the General's face suggested he didn't find either of Lois's 'boyfriends' cool in the least.

o O o

"Hey, Jimmy, have you seen Lois?" Richard asked the young photographer.

"Wait… it's Monday the 13th, isn't it?" Jimmy looked contemplative for a moment. "Then Perry must have sent her to cover the opening ceremony of the healthcare centre… you know, the one built on Bruce Wayne's donations. Why are you asking?"

"I accidentally deleted an email that I remember to have forwarded to her… I need to look at her Outlook to see if she still has it…"

Jimmy shrugged. "I'm sure she won't back for another two-three hours, so if you need that email urgently, then you've got to start her computer."

Richard nodded, flopped down into the chair before Lois's computer and switched it on. The password box popped up. A grimace appeared on the man's face as he recalled his fiancée's latest password. Reluctantly, he typed 'superman', just to get the message 'invalid password'.

_She must've changed it_… He typed in 'jason' and 'richard', and both got rejected.

At that moment Clark Kent entered the newsroom, tripping and knocking a stack of papers off the nearest desk. As Richard watched his rival clumsily gather the fallen papers and mumble an apology, something occurred to him. He turned back to Lois's computer and typed in 'clark'.

Windows immediately loaded, and Richard felt his heart clench just as much as it had Friday night when he'd found his fiancée crying over the love she felt for another man.

He quickly found the email he'd been looking for in Lois's inbox, but along with it, he found another six messages from Clark Kent. Feeling guilty at what he was doing, he quickly read through all the emails Clark had sent to Lois and even looked up the ones in the outbox that Lois had sent to Clark. They were innocent enough messages without any kind of emotions, but they still made Richard's throat constrict. Because of him standing between them, Lois and Clark could only communicate in emails.

For the umpteenth time in the past few days, he felt like a third wheel. He knew he was being silly, as he had more right to both Lois and Jason than Clark did, and yet… he knew he was ruining things. Of course, Lois and Clark too were ruining each other's and their own lives, but they were pretending that everything was okay. Richard, however, knew well enough that nothing was okay.

Nothing.

Lois was staying with him because she felt guilty. Clark was staying away from Lois because he too felt guilty. And he, Richard, felt guilty because of letting those two pretend everything was fine.

He closed the Outlook and switched off the computer, then stood and walked into his office to pick up his coat.

"We've got to talk," he said, stepping to Clark's desk.

The other man looked up from the stack of papers he was leafing through and adjusted his glasses. "Er… why?"

"Just because. The rooftop. Be there in five minutes. And come as you are, no red cape."

With that, Richard headed for the elevator, leaving a confused Clark behind.

o

Clark stepped out onto the roof and headed for Richard who was waiting for him, slightly shivering in the November wind. The sky was overcast, and Clark couldn't help thinking that there was no other month of the year he hated as much as November. Autumn was his least favourite season, because it led up to winter. Winter, however, already held the promise of spring.

He usually didn't mind September, as it tended to be still warm, and in October the trees' foliage turned yellow, orange and red, making him want to walk through Centennial Park every morning just to revel in their unearthly beauty. But November… it offered nothing but cold, clouds and rain. The overcast sky somehow felt like a metaphor for the feelings in his soul. If someone had asked him to liken his mood to various months, for his current one he would have picked November.

"You wanted to talk to me," he said as he stepped to the other man.

Richard nodded, the collar of his coat pulled as high into his face as possible. For a second Clark felt thankful that he never felt cold.

"It's about you and Lois," Richard began.

"What about us?" Clark sighed. "It's over, Richard. She's all yours, she wants to marry you, not me, and-"

"But _you_ want to marry her, don't you?" the other man pressed.

Clark propped his elbows on the parapet, looking over Metropolis. "I wanted to… but she said she was already marrying you. I'm always late, and you always get to be lucky. Make her happy, Richard."

"Do you think I _can_ make her happy?"

His mother's words echoed in Clark's mind: _I'm just trying to make you see that if you think she's going to be happy with Richard White, then you're wrong_. "You did make her happy while I was away," he replied vaguely.

"But you're no longer away," the other man pointed out.

"No. But she no longer wants me. And let's face it, I gave her just enough reason to not want me. I threw her away twice. You were beside her all along. You deserve her. I don't. Period."

Richard shook his head. "Don't you realise it's all about… pride? On both party's side?"

"Pride?" Clark's eyes narrowed.

"Yes. She's too proud to go back to you after you ditched her twice. And tell you what, I understand her. And you too are too proud to beg her to come back to you after she fled into my arms twice. And I understand you too. But I want you to realise that she loves _you_, not me. She's just staying with me out of… respect. Out of… pity. She isn't strong enough to leave me. But if _you _were strong enough to take her from me… I wouldn't hold her back." Seeing disbelief on Clark's face, Richard heaved a sigh. "I'm offering her to you on a golden plate, Superboy. Take her."

Clark blinked.

"You don't believe me."

"Uh…" Clark ran his hand nervously across his dark locks. "I actually do, you seem serious. But I can't take your offer. Lois was right when she said I wasn't allowed to ruin her life at the third time. Because that's what I'm doing – always ruining it. Whether she loves me or not, whether I love her or not… it doesn't matter. It seems that she and I simply… can't live together. You know, like… Scarlett O'Hara and Rhett Butler… Eliza Doolittle and Henry Higgins…"

"You're just trying to find excuses."

"I'm not. I… I _promised_ Lois to leave her alone when she asked me to. And I will keep my promise. She's yours, Richard. Make her happy. She deserves it."

Richard regarded Clark with a curious expression, then nodded. "If that's your final word…"

"It is."

"Well, then… let's talk about the wedding."

Clark arched an eyebrow at the other man, surprised at his sudden change of topic and the casual quality of Richard's voice. "Why?"

"Because it's time Lois and I finally announced it to our colleagues and friends… and we need a best man. Would you do us the honour?"

Clark gaped like a fish. Just a minute earlier Richard had been trying to convince him to take Lois from him, and now, he was asking him to be his best man? The man must have been either drinking, taking drugs or hit by something that caused him some serious brain damage. "You don't mean it."

"Believe me that I do."

"Noooo…" Clark shook his head. "Lois would never agree to this, besides, I don't want to… to…"

"…see her marry me?" Richard finished the sentence.

Clark nodded. "I couldn't bear to see it."

"You're a strong man, Clark Kent. Heck, you're the strongest man on Earth, of course you _could_ bear to see it. And you should. For Jason's sake. He wants you there."

Clark knitted his eyebrows. "But Lois surely doesn't."

"Actually… I haven't yet talked to her about this, but she will agree. She only wants the best for Jason. And Jason wants you to be there. He suggested it to me himself last night when I put him to bed. He said no one would be a better best man than his father."

"He tried to convince me to go to the wedding on Friday… but I told him I wasn't going."

Richard sent Clark a sad smile. "Can you ever say 'no' to your son?"

"Actually… I already have a few times… like when he insisted I teach him to fly right away…" Clark returned the sad smile.

"Uh… did you manage to teach him something over the weekend?"

Clark nodded with a grim expression. "He can now control his X-ray vision, so… you and Lois are free to… get intimate. Regard it as my… wedding present to you two. But I still suggest you wait until Jason falls asleep, because his super-hearing is still uncontrolled."

Richard rubbed his arms through his coat as the wind got chillier and chillier. "I think… we'll just wait till after the wedding. Hopefully by then you will have managed to teach Jason to control his hearing as well." He made a grimace. "If I've waited for four months, I can wait one more."

Clark's eyebrows ran high on his forehead. "_Four months_?"

Richard shrugged with an embarrassed look. "Y'know, before you came back, I'd been away for over a month in the middle-east, and when I arrived back to Metropolis, Lois was… er… having those days. Then you popped back into her life, and the two of you went on the memory-searching mission… then came the kidnapping… And when she was back, she said we weren't supposed to do anything until Jason wasn't properly trained. So there. You're facing a man who's been abstinent for four months."

"Tell you what, I'd been abstinent for _five years_ before-" Clark's voice trailed off and he quickly looked away, his cheeks flushed, cursing himself for almost having spilled the beans.

"Hey, I know about you and Lois… in the villa," Richard said, his voice sounding surprisingly calm and friendly for a cuckolded man.

Clark looked back at Richard, his eyes wide. "She told you?"

The other man shrugged. "Yes. I guess… she wanted to start a new relationship with me… with a clean record."

Clark nodded. "Maybe she did. Well… I've got to go now. Perry's going to kill me if I don't finish that article on Superman's latest rescue."

Richard laughed lightly. "It's not difficult to report on something you yourself did, is it?"

Clark shrugged with an embarrassed grin. "To tell you the truth, I hate writing about myself. It feels kinda… dunno… stuck-up. You know what I mean?"

The other man nodded. "Clark, think about being the best man. You'd make Jason very happy if you accepted. He told me he'd love to see both Father and Daddy there."

Despite his horror at the mere thought of himself as Richard's best man, Clark found his lips tucked into a smile. _Father and Daddy. Daddy and Father_. He couldn't help it, his son was simply adorable.

o O o

_Metropolis Court of Justice, Thursday, 16th November_

"Katherine Kowalski, you are charged of the murder of Alexander Joseph Luthor and Michael Stebbins. Their bodies have been found, and you have yourself admitted to have shot them with the intention of saving Superman's life. I'm calling in the first witness, Clark Jerome Kent."

Kitty turned in the direction of the door, her heart throbbing in her throat.

"Is Clark Kent here?" the prosecutor raised his voice.

No steps could be heard from the corridor, and Kitty's heart sank. He wasn't coming. He wasn't keeping his word…

"Well, apparently our first witness failed to appear. Now, let's see our second one, Su-"

In that instant the door opened, and a blur of blue and red swept across to come to a halt right before the prosecutor.

"You've been waiting for me, Your Honour?" Superman looked up at the judge, ignoring the dark glances he was getting from the prosecutor. "I hope I'm not late, I've just visited Clark Kent. The poor guy came down with a nasty disease. Fever and rashes, not a pretty sight. The doctor was just examining him as I arrived there. Kent knew we both were summoned to this trial, so he called me there to be able to deliver you his medical certificate and his heart-felt apologies at his absence."

After he'd handed the certificate to the judge, he turned and sent Kitty a barely noticeable smile.

Kitty returned the almost-smile, her heart feeling much lighter all of a sudden. Superman was here, and even despite those stupid rumours of the two of them being lovers, there was no way Superman's charming smile wouldn't melt the jury-members' hearts. Hopefully there were a few of them whose relatives and friends had once been saved by the caped hero.

"Well, Your Honour, I'm ready to give testimony on Miss Kowalski's case."

The judge nodded. "Speak away, Mr. Superman."

o O o

**A/N: happy Easter to everyone!**

**The next chapter is the last one – so be nice and review, and then you're going to find out quick how the story ends. ;)**


	17. Richard the Lionheart

**A/N: this is the end, folks. Once again, thanks for sticking with the story and reviewing it.**

**Also thanks to Nightlyeclipse for her help with the court scene in this chapter.**

**Chapter 17**

**Richard The Lionheart**

"…I saw the despair in Miss Kowalski's eyes. She had to choose from two bad things: kill my enemies, one of whom happened to be her boyfriend, or let me die… and she chose what we could probably call 'the lesser of two evils'." Superman shook his head. "I wouldn't want to be in a situation like this ever, and I'm sure, Your Honour, and esteemed members of the Jury, that neither would you. Having to choose between someone you love but who's evil, and someone you don't even know but who might be… useful for mankind, is extremely hard. It's not the usual 'listen to your heart instead of your mind' sort of thing… Miss Kowalski's predicament was much more difficult than that. When she killed Luthor and one of his goons, she gave up love for the future of mankind. She saved me so that I can continue saving you. And therefore, Miss Kowalski is a heroine."

The prosecutor gave Superman a dark glance. "You said Miss Kowalski gave up on love. But we've heard certain… rumours saying she actually loved _you_."

"Your Honour, I object!" Kitty's attorney said.

"Overruled," replied the judge.

Superman gave the prosecutor an indulgent smile. "Those rumours were published in the Daily Star, Sir, which we all know is a paper about as credible as The Quibbler in Harry Potter."

Some people in the audience snickered.

"I can assure you," Superman looked around, his eyes shifting from the prosecutor to the judge, and from the judge to the members of the jury, "that, despite what the Daily Star claims, I never had sex with Miss Kowalski."

"That's what Bill Clinton said too," someone spoke up in the audience. "Er… wait, that was Lewinsky, not Kowalski..."

Superman shrugged, still smiling. "I regard Miss Kowalski as a friend who saved my life, and that is all. The verdict is in your hands." He looked at the jury, then slipped into the nearest vacant seat, next to a lady in her forties, who almost fainted on the spot.

"You all right, Miss?" he whispered to the woman.

She nodded numbly, fanning herself with a copy of the Daily Star. Her eyes were the size of saucers as she stared at him. "Would you… would you give me… an autograph?"

The judge turned to Kitty's attorney. "You may now present evidence in favour of the defendant," said the judge, and there was the shadow of a smile on his face, "though… I doubt you could present us with anything better than Mr. Superman just did…"

o

Half an hour later, the jury finished discussing Kitty's case and returned to the courtroom.

The head juror handed the paper with the verdicts to the judge, by way of the bailiff.

The judge quickly read it through, then looked at the jury. "Has the jury reached a verdict?"

"We have, Your Honour," said the head juror.

The judge nodded. "In the case against Katherine Kowalski for the murder of Alexander Joseph Luthor on the count of murder in the first degree, what say you?"

"We find the defendant, Miss Kowalski, guilty," replied the head juror.

"And in the case against Katherine Kowalski for the murder of Michael Stebbins on the count of murder in the first degree, what say you?" asked the judge.

"We find the defendant, Miss Kowalski, guilty."

Superman saw Kitty shudder in the foremost row.

"However," the foreman of the jury continued, "in the light of the testimony given by Superman, we suggest that Miss Kowalski be put on probation."

o O o

"How can I ever repay you for this?" Kitty asked as she and Superman left the courtroom amidst the flashing of cameras.

"You have saved my life, Kitty, that's something that I can never repay you. Besides, I promised you to set you free." He stopped before a woman whose hair was dyed a disturbing shade of red. "Jillian Connor from the Daily Star?" he asked with an almost-smile. "May I ask you not to lie about me in any of your future Superman-related articles?"

The woman's face turned just as red as her hair and she held a microphone out towards him. "Of course, if you would just-"

"I'm not giving interviews," Superman replied. "Especially not to you, Miss Connor. Come on, Kitty."

The journalists followed them for quite a while after they left the court, and finally, Superman had enough. He turned around, held out a hand and said, "No interviews, ladies and gentlemen. You heard everything you needed to hear in the courtroom. I'm sure that's just enough for you to write your sensationalist articles. Good-bye." With that, he turned around and continued to walk alongside Kitty.

They drew quite a bit of attention from the passers-by as well, but Superman merely sent them a smile, as though it were completely natural for him to be strolling among 'mortals'.

"You're one weird guy," Kitty remarked. "You could fly, but you're walking."

"I could have flown you home, but picking you up instead of walking side by side with you would have just added fuel to the fire."

"That's true, but you don't _need to_ take me home, I'm a big girl, I can go on my own," she pointed out.

"I know, but I wanted to make sure you got home all right, without being disturbed by these jackals and their questions." He shrugged as they reached Centennial Park and began walking across the grass. Some children playing around gaped at Superman, some even waved at him. He returned the waves with a friendly smile.

"Jackals? Hey, you're talking about your colleagues," Kitty laughed lightly.

Superman pulled a face. "Don't even remind me. Some of my so-called colleagues have absolutely no inhibitions. I'm just protecting you from them. One of the reasons why I've chosen to walk instead of fly you home is that I wanted some time to talk to you, ask you how you were doing… I hope they didn't treat you badly in these past five weeks…"

She shook her head. "No, not really. Of course, there were some nasty remarks about you and me in a… relationship." She rolled her eyes. "Was it that red-haired tramp who spread the rumours? Well, I hope now they believe us. After all, they think the Man of Steel cannot lie…"

He gave her an embarrassed grimace. "You know I didn't lie about this… but there _are _things I mustn't tell the truth about."

"Like your relationship to Lois and Jason… Er… speaking of which, what about you and Lois?"

Superman heaved a sigh. "Enough to say I screwed it up, so she's getting married to Richard."

"Oh… I'm sorry," Kitty said with a compassionate expression.

"Me too. And guess what, they asked me to be their best man."

The woman stopped in her stride, her eyes wide. "They didn't!"

"Yes, they did. Richard says Jason wants me to be the best man… and you know, sometimes a father just can't say no to his son."

"Mr. Superman, Mr. Superman!" A little boy came running towards them. "My ball's stuck on that tree, could you get it down?"

With a gentle smile Superman floated up to the foliage and gave the child his ball back. "There you go. Next time try to not throw it that high."

"Thank you, Mr. Superman!" The boy beamed and ran away.

"You're a wonderful father, Clark, you're natural with kids," Kitty observed. "I'm so sorry it didn't work out with Lois… she loves you so much. And I know you love her."

"I'd rather not talk about that, Kitty. At least… not yet. Later, perhaps…"

"Then let's talk about something else," she said and resumed walking. "Like… how did Clark Kent get a medical certificate saying he was _horribly ill_?"

"He has connections in the right places… rich and powerful connections who can buy anything... even a forged medical certificate." He smirked. _Thanks for the help, Bruce_…

Kitty raised an eyebrow at him. "So even Superman has dishonest friends?"

"Not dishonest… just willing to help a man in distress. Come to think of it, as Clark is allegedly ill, he can't go to work tomorrow. I'm going to take the day off and visit the Machu Picchu. I always wanted to photograph llamas."

Kitty chuckled. "You're weirder than I thought. But in a good way. It's nice to have you as a friend."

He smiled down at her. "The feeling is mutual."

o O o

The remaining two weeks till the wedding passed in a blur for Clark. On Monday the 20th November, he returned to the Planet, claiming to have healed perfectly, and immediately took on twice as much work as usual. He also found that he was almost thankful for all the skirmishes he had to save people from, because these things occupied him and helped him keep his thoughts off the wedding. In the evenings, he either took Jason out to dinner or met Kitty for a bit of friendly talk.

As it turned out, Kitty had been invited to the wedding too, which surprised her very much. "Imagine the look on my face when I got the invitation," she said one night as she was trying not to slip in Centennial Park's skating rink. "Lois even enclosed a short letter in which she wrote she was very grateful for my help in the villa, and she regards me as a friend. I haven't been to weddings since I was ten… what on earth should I wear?"

Clark found he enjoyed having Kitty around. The last female friend with whom he could talk about absolutely anything, had been Chloe Sullivan back in Smallville. He was aware of Kitty's feelings for him, but she didn't even try to be pushy, just offered her company when he needed someone to talk to, and she didn't seem to mind if he wanted to talk about Lois. And - especially in the last few days before the wedding - he quite often wanted to talk about Lois.

Lois herself spent less and less time at the Planet – Clark suspected she was busy with the wedding preparations.

In the last week before the wedding, he only met her once when he went for Jason on Wednesday evening to spend a few hours with him. Normally he would have picked the boy up from school on Friday, but Lois insisted that Jason had to get into bed early on Friday night as the wedding on Saturday was going to be very tiring for a boy of his age.

"My tuxedo is so cool, you've got to see it!" Jason said enthusiastically as he and his father arrived back to 312 Riverside Drive, after they had been to the cinema to watch _Happy Feet_.

"I'm going to see your tux in three days, Jason," Clark reminded the boy. From the looks Lois was giving him, it was clear for him that she didn't want him in the house any longer than absolutely necessary. "I've got to go now. Good night, Son."

"Good night, Father." Jason hugged Clark and ran up the stairs, leaving his parents in the hall.

"Er… You're practically glowing, Lois," Clark said, knowing his awkward his voice sounded. "You look like a really happy bride."

"Don't be ridiculous, Clark," she replied with a scowl. "I know I'm far from glowing… too tired for that… But I _intend to_ be a happy bride on Saturday. By the way, the seamstress is here right now, adding the final touches to my dress, so if you don't mind…"

"Oh, okay. I don't want to disturb. Good night, Lois."

He exited the house of the White family and began walking towards his apartment. Truth was that Lois's sight had almost frightened him. Only the gentleman in him had made him compliment her, given the fact that she had looked downright sickly. Her face had been paler than usual, there were shadows under her eyes suggesting she hadn't slept much recently, and what most shocked him was the complete lack of happiness in her eyes. _She's suffering because of me. Because I screwed up her life, not once, not twice… only God knows how many times. Heavens, I hate myself._

o O o

_Saturday, 2__nd__ December_

"At least smile a bit, Lois," Ella Lane sighed as her older daughter examined herself in the full-length mirror. Lois wore a fairy simple, cream-coloured dress that tightly hugged her frame. She had refused outright to wear a hoop skirt and a veil, and insisted on picking a dress that wasn't snow white ('I'm not exactly a virgin, Mom, I have a son, if I may remind you!'). The only embellishments on her wedding dress were a few flower-patterns formed by tiny pearls, running along the neckline and the cuffs of the long sleeves. In her hair, she wore a single small orchid, and not even that was white but a very pale shade of yellow.

"I _am_ smiling, Mom," Lois replied and forced a smile on her face, but she couldn't fool her mother.

"Oh, honey… is it because you love someone else? That… Clark Kent?"

Lois almost dropped her bouquet of yellow orchids. "W…what? What makes you think that… Clark…?"

Ella squeezed her daughter's arm. "I have eyes to see, honey. I've only seen him twice, but both times I noticed the way you looked at him… Why are you marrying Richard? Because he proposed and Clark didn't?"

"Mom… I would appreciate if you stopped this. Richard and I belong together, and Clark is just a friend. Accidentally the father of my son, but so what?"

Ella opened her mouth to reply, but at that moment General Lane entered. "You're beautiful, Daughter," he said. "Honestly, that idiot Richard doesn't deserve you."

Lois rolled her eyes. "You've found any guy I ever dated an idiot."

Her father shrugged. "Well… now that you mention it… he's still better than that Mark Kent."

"Clark."

"Whatever." The general held out his arm for Lois. "Come, Daughter, let's get you into that limousine."

o O o

The limo stopped before a tiny church in the outskirts of Metropolis, and Lois swallowed the lump that had risen in her throat. She and Richard had deliberately chosen a tiny, insignificant church, as they wanted a small wedding with only the family and their closest friends from the Planet present.

As she got out of the car, snowflakes settled into her hair – it had started to snow a few minutes earlier. Her sister Lucy's daughter was waiting for them before the church, shivering in her frilly pink bridesmaid dress. Lois sent the child an encouraging smile, but found that it wasn't very convincing, as she herself needed encouragement to go through everything that awaited her today… especially seeing Clark as the best man.

A familiar music began playing as she absent-mindedly grabbed her father's arm, letting him lead her into the church.

_Lohengrin_, she told herself, her heart sinking. A song that Clark loved above all. Last time they'd heard this song together, they had both been so much happier... True, Clark had had amnesia then, but there still had been some hope for… for what? – Lois mused. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but already by the Niagara, a hidden part of her soul had wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. And here she was now, walking towards Richard White, about to bind herself to him for all eternity.

As she walked down the aisle, she desperately thought that she felt like someone who was being led towards the gallows to be hung, not the altar to be married.

She saw familiar faces staring at her from the pews around: Richard's parents, Perry White, her own sister Lucy and Lucy's husband and sons, Jimmy Olsen, Kitty Kowalski, her own son holding the cushion with the rings… But where was Clark?

As she and her father stopped before the altar, she looked around. Clark was definitely missing.

For some reason, she felt relieved. The last thing she wanted was for him to see her marry Richard.

The music died away, and the minister began, "Dearly beloved…"

Richard held up his hand. "Excuse me, Reverend, but the best man isn't here. Funny, a moment ago he was still here… must've gone to the toilet or something…"

Lois frowned at Richard. "It doesn't matter. We can get married without him." She turned to the minister. "Please, carry on."

"Are you sure, Lois?" Richard asked. "After all, he's still the best man!"

"The best man is only needed for delivering the speech after the ceremony," she hissed at him.

Richard crossed his arms. "I'm not marrying you without Clark being here."

"What?" Lois gasped. Murmurs ran down the crowd on both sides of the aisle.

"Please, honey, let's just wait for him, he'll be back, I'm sure," Richard said in a placating voice. And indeed, the next moment Clark Kent stumbled through the door, his dark hair splattered with snowflakes. He adjusted his glasses and swept snow off his shoulders as he ran up to the altar. There, he nearly knocked off the bridesmaid, Lois's niece. Mumbling an apology, he assumed his place behind the groom.

_Wonder what he had to rescue people from this time. Earthquake? Volcano eruption? Terrorist attack?_ Lois thought, stifling a sigh.

"Well, then, let's get started, shall we?" the minister said in a cheery voice, clasping his hands. "Dearly beloved, we have come together in the presence of God to witness and bless the joining together of this man and this woman in Holy Matrimony. The bond and covenant…"

Lois wasn't really paying attention to whatever the reverend was saying. Her mind was somewhere else, her heart was hammering in her throat, and she chanced a glance at Clark over her shoulder. Seeing that he was also eyeing her, she quickly looked away, feeling her cheeks burn.

"…in Cana of Galilee. It signifies to us the mystery of the union between…"

_Why is he staring at me like that? Is he __**still**__ staring?_ As unnoticeably as possible, she turned her head, and their eyes again met. _Why are you torturing me, Clark? Why did you take on Richard's offer to be the best man? You shouldn't even be here!_

"…and in accordance with the purposes for which it was instituted by God. Into this union Lois and Richard now come to be joined. If any of you can show cause why they may not be lawfully wed, speak now, or else forever hold your peace."

_Say something, Clark! Don't let me do this! _Lois squeezed her eyes shut._ Oh heavens, what am I thinking?_

A few moments of silence ensued, then the minister carried on.

"I charge you both, here in the presence of God and the witness of this company, that if either of you know any reason why you may not be married lawfully and in accordance with God's Word, do now confess it."

_I do know a reason…actually, two. I love someone else, not the groom. I'm going to have someone else's child, not the groom's. Good enough reasons for you?_

Lois felt a compulsion to look at Clark again. His blue eyes held sadness, and as he noticed she was eyeing him, he looked away. At this clear gesture of rejection, she felt her throat constrict and the familiar burning feeling in her eyes. _I won't cry. I don't want to cry. Please, no…_

The minister turned to the groom. "Richard, will you have this woman to be your wife; to live together with her in the covenant of marriage? Will you love her, comfort her, honour and keep her, in sickness and in health; and forsaking all others, be faithful unto her as long as you both shall live?"

Gulping, Lois looked at Richard, who was looking at her in a very peculiar way, as if he were trying to glance into her very soul. He took a deep breath and said, "No."

Lois gasped, and so did everyone else.

"W…what? Richard, I fear you didn't understand the question," the minister said with a nervous laugh. "I asked you if you wanted-"

"I said no, Reverend, and I meant it."

"What does this mean, Sonny?" General Lane spluttered.

Richard didn't reply to his almost-father-in-law, but stepped away from Lois, never taking his eyes off her. "Lois, it is not me who is supposed to be standing here next to you. There is a man here who has once… actually, twice, made a mistake in leaving you, the woman he loved. Now, he's about to make the same mistake over again, partly to spare _me_ the suffering, and partly because you, Lois, in your fury, made him promise he'd leave you alone. However, this man forgets that if I marry you, Lois, then all three of us will suffer, and I'm not going to let that happen." He turned to the best man and raised his voice, "Clark Kent, for once in a lifetime, be a man and do the right thing!"

Clark seemed to have shrunk. Blinking, he pointed at himself. "M…me?"

The silence in the church was so deep that one could almost hear snowflakes settling onto the stained glass windowpanes.

Lois's eyes shifted from Richard to the dumbstruck Clark, then back to Richard. "How could you?" she hissed at her fiancé. "How could you put me in a situation like this? What… what if… he doesn't even want to marry me?" She pointed at Clark, her eyes flashing with fury.

"I bet he does, Mommy!" Jason chimed in.

Richard arched an eyebrow at Clark. "I seem to remember you said something about this when we talked on the Planet's roof… you said you wanted to marry Lois, but you were always late and I always got lucky. You also said you only left her alone because _she_ made you promise you would. But we both know she didn't mean it. So, what do you say?"

The expression on Clark's face was unreadable, so Lois didn't even try to comprehend it. He seemed confused, shocked and… exhilarated?

Richard had planned this, she realised. That's why he didn't want to start the ceremony before Clark was back. He wanted to say the 'no' instead of the 'I will' when Clark was around to assume the role of the groom. And, judging by the look on Clark's face, he hadn't known about Richard's well-planned 'betrayal'.

Clark fidgeted nervously, pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, and when he started to speak, his voice was wavering. "I… I have no… no greater desire than to marry you, Lois. I love you. You know… know that… don't you?"

The tears that she had so far managed to fight back, now welled up in her eyes. Silently, with a small smile on her face, she nodded.

"Um, Lois… I've really screwed it up, there's no denying it… and I can't… can't express with words how sorry I am. I want to make up for it… and make you happy, as long as we live… If you would only give me a chance… Will you give me a chance? Will you marry me?"

Lois bit into her lower lip and glanced at Richard, who sent her a warm and friendly smile. Richard plucked the orchid off his tuxedo and held it out to Clark.

Clark caught the flower and stared at it, his expression still that of disbelief, then looked up and his eyes locked with Lois's. He gave her a timid smile, his eyebrows arched, as if urging her to answer his question at last.

"Yes, Clark, I will."

The man's timid smile widened, and in an instant he was beaming so brightly that Lois thought his whole body was emanating light. But perhaps it was just a figment of her imagination, a trick of a mind blinded by love… In a few quick strides, she crossed the distance between them, caught his tie and pulled his head down to hers so that their lips met in a passionate kiss.

As if a sonic bomb had exploded in the church, everyone started to talk at once.

"What – does – this – mean?" General Lane's voice boomed. "Clive… Mark… Richard, what the hell did you do?"

Richard's parents nodded eagerly, awaiting an explanation from their son.

"Just something that these two were too proud and too blind to do," Richard replied with a sad smile, watching as Lois and Clark were snogging happily, oblivious to the shock they had given their guests. Jason was eyeing his parents with a delighted grin on his face.

"Er… Lois, Clark…" The reverend gently patted them on the shoulder. "We haven't yet reached this part…" As the flushed couple parted (Clark's glasses sitting askew on his nose), he opened his arms in a friendly gesture. "Well… I think we should start the whole ceremony over, from the very beginning, what do you think?"

o

"Lois and Clark, having witnessed your vows of love to one another, it is my joy to present you to all gathered here as husband and wife. Clark, _now_ you may kiss the bride." The reverend winked at the groom.

As they shared another long and passionate kiss, music began to play again.

"Is this another part of Lohengrin?" Lois whispered to her husband.

"No," Clark whispered back, "the one at the beginning of the wedding was the Bridal Chorus from Wagner's Lohengrin, but this is the Wedding March from Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream."

"I know you love Lohengrin, but… I like this one better because…" she melted into his arms and whispered so lightly that only someone with super-hearing could hear it, "because Lohengrin played when I entered the church, thinking I was going to marry Richard… and this one is playing when I'm already married to _you_."

He smiled at her, a smile so warm it made her melt and her knees go weak. He offered her his arm, and they began walking down the aisle, towards the church door.

Jason joined them on the aisle, slipping his hand into Clark's. As they walked past Jimmy Olsen, they heard him whisper to Perry White, "Funny, I really thought she was in love with You-Know-Who…"

"Who, Voldemort?" Jason frowned up on the young photographer.

"I don't think Jimmy was referring to Voldemort," Richard said from behind Jason.

"I don't think so either. Lois has better taste than that," a female voice spoke up, and Richard turned to see a very pretty Kitty Kowalski grinning at him from one of the pews.

"Yeah, I certainly hope so." Richard grinned back and stopped by Kitty's pew. "Clark's a nice guy, and he and Lois deserve each other. But you know what? There's something good in their marriage for me too. It's not me who got General Lane as father-in-law, but Clark."

The groom, whose super-hearing had apparently registered the little conversation, turned around, his eyes wide with shock.

Kitty snickered. "I think Clark has just realised that himself…"

o O o

The snowstorm was raging heavier and heavier outside Clark's apartment, but he found he enjoyed looking at the dancing snowflakes from the soft warmth of their bed. _Their_ bed. It felt funny to think of it as that. He looked down at his wife who was sleeping in his arms, her head bent on his shoulder – her favourite position after lovemaking.

Clark couldn't help but feel grateful to Richard for the sacrifice he'd made today – it had required a great deal of courage, compassion and generosity to give up on the woman he loved to make her happy. Richard White had been brave enough to take that step – a step that not even Clark himself had been brave enough to take. For that, he admired his one-time rival. And not only did Richard give up on Lois, but he also took on to take care of Jason for the night, giving the newlyweds some time just for themselves.

Tomorrow, Clark told himself, they would visit his mother, together, as a family: Jason, Lois and him. He was sure his mother was going to be devastated to find out she'd missed her only son's wedding, but he was sure that the chance to spoil her grandson to her heart's content would at least partly make up for that.

Caressing Lois's shoulder and letting himself be lost in a daydream about their future as a family, Clark felt more at peace with the world than ever before. His eyelids began to droop and he started drifting off to sleep when, in the complete silence of the room, his super-hearing suddenly registered something.

He sat bolt upright, his eyes wide with surprise. Lois's groan suggested she missed her comfortable pillow – her husband's shoulder. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, yawning. "What happened?"

"I… I heard something, Lois."

"You always hear something, Clark," she said, propping herself on her elbow. "You yourself told me so, when you took me flying the day you saved the crashing plane… You said you heard everything… Is there trouble? Do you need to fly to someone's rescue?"

He shook his head, his eyes still wide. "I heard… something in this room. A… a heartbeat."

"Yours? Mine?" She smiled.

"No… Much fainter… coming from… here." He placed his hand on her belly.

"Can you hear it… already?" she whispered.

"_Already?_ L…Lois…?" he stammered. "You knew you were pregnant, and… never cared to tell me?"

She sighed. "Things were too complicated, Clark… I was mad at you for having rejected me again… I know it wasn't fair of me to not tell you…"

Looking a little hurt, he nodded. "And Richard? Did he know, or… did you intend to lie to him… again?"

"Of course he knew… I will never forgive myself for having lied to him about Jason, and I wouldn't… couldn't have done it again… If you… if you hadn't agreed to come to the wedding, he would have undoubtedly married me, and he would have been father to this child as well, even though he knew it wasn't his…" She heaved a sigh. "I knew it was all wrong, but I was so… so angry with you, Clark! I felt you let me down… again… But that still doesn't justify my not telling you about the baby. I'm sorry."

"No…" He shook his head. "_I _am sorry. It was my fault." He cupped her face, his eyes boring into hers. "I want us to live our life in a way so that we won't have to be sorry for anything again. Do you think it's possible?"

She covered his hands with hers, tears of joy glistening in her eyes. "Of course it is, Clark. We're strong together. We'll manage that. I have faith in you… in us."

His eyes seemed to water for a moment, but he blinked back his tears. "Just a few weeks ago, you seemed to have… given up on faith… when you made me promise to stay away from you." He shook his head in disbelief. "I would have done it, Lois, out of respect for you… and had Richard not forced me, _us_, to come to our senses, I don't know what would have happened… Since that day on the roof when I made you that promise, I died a little every day."

"So did I… but not from that day on… much earlier. Since that night on your farm when you taught me the constellations. I was so mad at you, especially when I realised I was pregnant!" Her eyes flashed for a second. "When I asked you to leave me alone… it was my anger working in me… and you're right… if it weren't for Richard's sacrifice, I… I don't know what would have happened. We both… no, _all three of us_, would have made a huge mistake. I think we'll never be able to repay this to him."

"Agreed," he replied with a sad smile. "He's indeed a good man, and I hope some day he's going to meet someone as wonderful as you are. Though, I doubt if he would."

"Why wouldn't he?" She frowned.

"Because no one can be as wonderful as you are, Lois Lane Kent."

"You hopeless romantic, you." She looked into his eyes, drowning in their blue depths. Now those blue eyes shifted lower on her body, as if caressing her with their glance, finally resting on her belly.

"Can you… see it? Him? Her?" she whispered.

He sent her a grin. "I'd like to think of it as a 'she'… and yes, I can see her. She's about two inches long. She's beautiful. Resembles you a lot."

"Clark!" She boxed playfully into his chest. "Ouch. I always forget not to mishandle the Man of Steel… But really, babies at this stage don't yet resemble anyone!"

He gently took her sore hand and covered it with feather-light kisses. "But I hope she will resemble you. Jason does too, and he's perfect."

"Actually… I'd be happier if she resembled her daddy. Blue eyes, black hair…"

"I'd rather have a pretty brunette like you."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "I thought you liked blondes…"

He wrinkled his nose. "You will rub that in as long as we live, won't you?"

She gave him a challenging look, her eyes twinkling mischievously. "You can count on that, Smallville."

**THE END**

**Author's notes – just to keep you occupied a little longer, and just because you might be wondering what happened to the characters in the future. So…**

On Clark's request, Bruce Wayne sent a group of trustworthy men to Luthor's abandoned mountainside villa and retrieved all the Kryptonite, which they destroyed in the labs of Wayne Enterprises. (Whenever they met as Superman and Batman, Bruce never failed to remind Clark that he owed him both for this, and for the fake medical certificate).

One year after Lois and Clark's wedding, Richard married Kitty Kowalski, and they became godparents of Katherine Lara Kent.

Clark never managed to win the sympathy of his father-in-law, who never managed to learn his name and kept calling him Clive and Mark, depending on his mood.

At age fifteen, Jason managed to learn to fly, and he retrieved his father's lost crystals from New Krypton. At age twenty, he began his 'career' as 'Superboy' (wearing a cutesy red suit with blue cape and a tiny black mask for which his sister kept referring to him as 'my idiot brother Zorro').

Whenever he wasn't saving the world alongside his father, Jason taught history and mythology at the Metropolis University of Arts.

Katherine Lara (called Katie by everyone), proved to have a smaller amount of her father's powers than Jason, but she had a Kryptonian talent that neither Clark nor 'her idiot brother Zorro' possessed: she was a natural healer, therefore she became a doctor and worked for Metropolis General Hospital. She married Richard and Kitty's son, Perry White the Second.

Jason – to his father's utter horror – started a family with a very blonde girl by the name of Claudia.

Jimmy Olsen never got married and kept scandalising everyone with wearing jumper with a bowtie.

As for Ripper… he 'married' three times, became father of twenty-five pups and got a role in a Pedigree pet food ad.

o

**There's a fanart of Clark and Lois's wedding, linked into my ffnet profile. Go, check it out – but only after you've given me a final review:)**


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